Against the Entire World

Newsmax reported on March 4:

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told supporters he would ‘stand against the entire world’ to stop the Iran nuclear deal. Netanyahu’s comments were a change for the prime minister, who had been careful in discussing the nuclear pact… President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear deal in 2018… ‘The international reality has changed,’ said Netanyahu, undoubtedly referring to Biden having replaced Trump. ‘There is an intention to go back to this dangerous deal. I am the only one who will stand against the entire world.’…

“France, Germany and the United Kingdom have backed off a plan to censure Iran for not cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency…”

The Jerusalem Post added on March 6 that “Netanyahu told… Kamala Harris in a late-night phone call on Thursday that he will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons…”

It does appear that Israel might find itself alone with respect to the Iran deal.

US Warns Its Allies in Middle East

The Jerusalem Post wrote on March 5:

“The Biden administration issued a warning this week to its allies in the Middle East not to oppose US policies and not to seek military solutions to the region’s problems. ‘We do not believe that military force is the answer to the region’s challenges, and we will not give our partners in the Middle East a blank check to pursue policies at odds with American interests and values,’ it said in a document posted on the White House website that outlined its global strategic interests.

“The document, titled, ‘Interim National Security Guidelines,’ was published as Israel has increasingly spoken of the possibility that it might have to use force to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. On Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that the IDF was updating a military plan to strike Iranian nuclear sites if necessary…

“Israel and the US are also at odds over West Bank settlement activity, with Israel believing it has the right to build on territory that will one day become part of sovereign Israel. The Biden Administration believes that much of that territory should be part of the permanent boundaries of a Palestinian state and holds that settlement activity prevents the resumption of negotiations for a two-state resolution to the conflict.”

The American warning to Israel is far too obvious than to be ignored.

Macron and Draghi

Express wrote on March 2:

“EMMANUEL MACRON might have found a replacement for Angela Merkel in Mario Draghi as the new Italian Prime Minister sees eye-to-eye with the French leader on EU defence and security… Italian newspaper Il Foglio claimed the pair united on various themes during [a] virtual meeting, ranging from vaccine protectionism to strengthening defence and security…

“This would be the perfect opportunity for the French President to take the leadership of the EU once Angela Merkel leaves the national and European political scene…”

Neither Macron nor Draghi will lead the final European revival of the ancient Roman Empire, consisting of ten nations or groups of nations.  

German Health Minister Spahn Must Go!

Bild Online wrote on March 5:

“At first there were too few masks, then too little vaccine, and now we are dawdling with the quick tests. Now even Der Spiegel just boiled over. ‘It’s enough, Mr. Spahn,’ was the headline of an article in the Hamburg news magazine, and the author continued: ‘Actually, two resignations are due.’

“Whom does Der Spiegel author Dirk Kurbjuweit mean in his editorial? Chancellor Angela Merkel (66, CDU) and Health Minister Jens Spahn (40, CDU)! ‘The main responsibility lies with the Chancellor,’ the author writes. ‘Merkel’s overall balance sheet as Chancellor is spoiled.’ However, Jens Spahn’s situation is even ‘worse.’ Because: ‘As health minister, he is also responsible for the debacle.’

“In the case of Merkel, her resignation would lead to a political crisis in the middle of the pandemic, and because of the imminent general election, there would probably be no stable government until the end of the year. ‘That doesn’t make the situation any better,’ Der Spiegel says. ‘For the Minister of Health, however, this pragmatic-political objection does not apply. Spahn no longer belongs in this office.’

“It also said that ‘The crisis policy of the federal and state governments has become a ‘farce’. ‘Is that really Germany?’ the author asks in astonishment, looking at the government’s crisis management. ‘Organizing, doing business intelligently, that was always considered a strength of the Germans. And now almost nothing works smoothly, of all things in the pandemic, in the struggle for life and death. What’s going on here?’

“His diagnosis: ‘Germany, it has to be said, is currently being ruled terribly badly by the Federal Chancellor, by the group of Prime Ministers, and by some ministers, namely Health Minister Jens Spahn. That must have consequences.’”

By that standard, just about all health ministers and governmental leaders all over the world must go, given the absolute fiasco they have created and are responsible for. And so they should resign. Of course they won’t, and it takes the return of Jesus Christ to make an end to man’s mismanagement. In the meantime, beware when Germans are becoming unhappy with their government.

German Travel Restrictions

The Local wrote on March 9:

“The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) changed the risk classification of the United States on March 7th. The US was previously classed as a ‘high incidence area’ by the RKI… now it’s a ‘risk area’ – which is used by German authorities to describe a region with an increased risk of infection… However, entry from the US is only permitted in a few narrow exceptions. Proof of urgent need to travel is required, German authorities say…

“If you are a German resident from the US, or fall into one of the exception categories, you still face strict testing and quarantine measures.

“All travellers must have a negative Covid-19 test result at the latest 48 hours after they enter Germany. It must be presented to authorities if they request it. Some individual airlines may however still say that travellers have to present a coronavirus negative test result before boarding is allowed…

“Testing is still mandatory even if travellers are vaccinated or have recovered from a coronavirus infection…

“People returning from ‘risk zones’ are required to self-isolate for 10 days after they arrive. The quarantine can usually be ended with a negative coronavirus test result taken at the earliest five days after arriving in Germany… Everyone entering Germany is also required to register online.”

Covid-19 Lockdowns and Wild Animals

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 5:

“In London and other major cities across the UK, rat sightings have soared during the pandemic. The British Pest Control Association (BPCA)… said its members reported a 51% hike in rodent activity during the first lockdown last spring, and a 78% increase in November after the next lockdown.

“Typically, rats avoid humans and make drains and sewers their homes. However, as a result of shuttered businesses and deserted high streets, the creatures are out in full force and making restaurants, pubs and empty buildings their new habitat as they look for other sources to satisfy their dietary needs…

“Thousands of macaques… roam the streets of Lopburi in Thailand… Usually well-fed by tourists, the monkeys have been finding snacks hard to come by during the pandemic. They’ve even engaged in intertribal warfare over scraps, fighting in the streets and historic temples… There are tens of millions of [stray dogs] roving [India’s] streets and slums; a law has made it illegal to kill or maim the animals… Strays are also common in Istanbul — the city on the Bosporus… counts more than 200,000 free roaming cats and dogs…

“Rodents are known to carry and transmit diseases such as… Leptospirosis [a bacterial disease ], Salmonella, Listeria, Toxoplasma gondii [a parasite that forms cysts and can affect a number of body organs], and Hantavirus [which can cause potentially deadly diseases such as hemorrhagic fever or a pulmonary syndrome]…”

God says that many people will die due to the wild beasts of the earth.

In addition, according to an article by the Ron Paul Institute, dated March 9, “Stanford University Medical School professor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya is featured in Newsweek Magazine condemning the lockdowns across the United States to fight the virus, calling them the biggest mistake ever made by public health authorities. A new study released by…  the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)… appears to bolster Dr. Bhattacharya’s claim.”

Royal Family in Turmoil

Deutsche Welle reported on March 8:

“Prince Harry and Meghan… talked about the struggles of living in the royal family in a highly-anticipated interview with US television personality Oprah Winfrey… Meghan said the family and the people who run the institution are separate. She said the Queen has always been ‘wonderful’ to her, always making her feel welcome… She added that while the palace was ready to lie to protect other members of the family, ‘they weren’t willing to tell the truth to protect me and my husband.’… Meghan said there were concerns about how ‘dark’ her child would be… [Oprah later clarified that the persons allegedly raising this issue were NOT the Queen and Prince Philipp.] Meghan said she told the palace that she needed help for mental health concerns: ‘I just didn’t want to be alive anymore.’…

“Prince Harry said separation from the British royal family had been very difficult for him and Meghan. ‘My biggest concern was history repeating itself,’ Harry said, apparently referring to his mother Princess Diana, who was hounded by the British press and died at age 36 in a car crash in Paris…

“Queen Elizabeth II, Harry’s grandmother, gave a televised address on Sunday, hours before the interview was aired. In a pre-recorded message from London, the British monarch talked about the importance of ‘dedication to duty’ in an address to mark Commonwealth Day… The couple stepped away from royal duties in March 2020, complaining about the British tabloids’ treatment of Meghan. They cited what they described as bullying and racist attitudes toward the duchess, who is biracial…”

Bild Online wrote on March 7:

“That there could ever be again peace in the [royal] family seems to be impossible now… all bridges have been burned…”

Deutsche Welle added on March 8:

“Birgit Maass, DW’s London correspondent, said it was unclear if Buckingham Palace would give an official statement. [Subsequently, Buckingham Palace did issue an official statement, see articles below.] ‘There would only be statement if individual members of the palace were attacked,’ she said. However, the couple was careful to avoid naming individuals during the interview. ‘It’s a tough one for the palace’ Maass said. ‘There will be a fear in the royal family that it could be tainted, but the queen still is somebody who is very popular as head of state,’ Maass said, adding that questions remain about the future of the royal family near the end of Elizabeth’s reign.”

This scandal is reminiscent of the scandal pertaining to Princess Diana and her interview. Whomever one wants to believe and however one wants to evaluate it, the reputation and institution of the Royal Family has suffered another severe blow. Some papers have stated that while Americans don’t care too much for the concept of the British monarchy, many Brits look at the Royal Family almost as holy and tabu, which must never be criticized.

“America Is Trashing Britain”

The Hollywood Reporter wrote on March 8:

“Britain’s notorious tabloid press was apoplectic with rage towards Meghan Markle and Prince Harry after their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey on Sunday night….

“After dismissing the interview as a ‘sideshow’… The Daily Mail devoted well over twenty stories related to the special on its website on Monday morning… The Daily Mail and its sister publication The Mail on Sunday have been particularly virulent in their coverage of the Sussexes, the latter paper was recently ordered by a British judge to publish a front-page statement declaring Markle’s victory in her copyright claim against the newspaper over its publication of a letter to her estranged father.

“Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan, another long-time and very public critic of Markle, opened his show by repeatedly suggesting that Prince Harry had ‘spray-gunned’ his family with the revelatory interview and that it was ‘so disloyal’… ‘as Prince Phillip lies in hospital.’ ‘America is trashing our country and trashing our monarchy now,’ Morgan said.”

Predictably, the reaction in America was much more sympathetic towards Harry and Meghan. Express reported on March 8 that the White House praised Meghan for her courage to speak about her struggles with mental health, stating that these comments risk “opening a rift between Joe Biden’s administration and the UK political establishment.” Following a hot debate with co-hosts on Good Morning Britain, Piers Morgan walked off the set and subsequently resigned, after saying that he does not believe that Meghan Markle was indeed suicidal. Most British viewers seem to agree with Morgan.

Royal Response Insufficient?

The Associated Press wrote on March 10:

“Buckingham Palace’s statement on Prince Harry and Meghan’s allegations on racism and mistreatment has failed to quiet the controversy, with some observers criticizing the royal family for failing to forcefully condemn racism and suggesting that the couple’s version of events may not be accurate. ‘Too little, too late’ was the verdict of royal commentator Peter Hunt, who also criticized the palace’s 61-word statement for saying the issue would be dealt with privately as a family matter…  ‘The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan,’ the palace said. ‘The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.’

“The comments were the palace’s first word since the interview rocked the royal family — and touched off conversations around the world about racism, mental health and even the relationship between Britain and its former colonies…

“Fallout from the interview is likely to only fuel the debate over the future of the monarchy and its role both in Britain and the other countries around the world for which the queen serves as head of state… The queen remains the head of state for 15 countries, most of which were once part of the British Empire, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and island nations in the Caribbean.”

Other countries, which are part of the Commonwealth, include Malta and Cyprus, South Africa and many other African nations, such as Kenya, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania.

Commonwealth At Risk?

Express wrote on March 10:

“Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have put the Commonwealth at risk after former Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said the bombshell interview bolstered his case for breaking away from the British monarchy… He told ABC: ‘After the end of the Queen’s reign, that is the time for us to say, ‘OK, we’ve passed that watershed. Do we really want to have whoever happens to be the head of state, the King or Queen of the UK, automatically our head of state?’’

“Mr Turnbull led the Australian Republican Movement from 1993 to 2000. In 1999, the Australian public voted to keep the monarchy. While the Queen’s role is mostly ceremonial, she does have the power to sack the Prime Minister, which happened in 1975.

“New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has previously expressed republican views but said the country was unlikely to break from the British monarchy in the near future…

“[For Commonwealth Day,] Prince Charles delivered a speech focused on the devastating effects of the pandemic but also hailed the Commonwealth’s efforts to fight climate change and protect its wildlife.”

Russia’s RT under attack in Germany

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 5:

“A dispute between Berlin and Moscow over the establishment of a Russian state-backed TV channel in Germany heated up on Friday after the Russian Foreign Ministry accused the German government of violating press freedoms. The dispute arose regarding the channel RT — formerly Russia Today — the German offshoot of which announced a plan in January to set up a television station in Germany by the end of the year… RT, based in Moscow, already offers services in English, Spanish, Arabic and French. RT DE, as the German-language offshoot is called, launched its website in 2014…

“Tensions spiked on Thursday when Maria Sakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, accused the German government of forcing Commerzbank to close accounts belonging to RT DE until the end of May in an attempt to stifle ‘freedom of expression and freedom of the press’… Berlin denied that it had any involvement in the closure of the RT accounts…”

“2021 on Track to become record-breaking year of major earthquakes, volcanoes”

Israel 365 wrote on March 7:

“Though the past year has been replete with troubling news items that include a pandemic and hotly contested US Presidential election, the earth shaking beneath our feet seems to have gone unnoticed.

“In the first 65 days of this year, 42 major quakes, magnitude 6 or higher, have shaken the planet. The year with the largest total was 2010, with 24 major earthquakes greater than or equal to magnitude 7.0. In 2011, a total of 207 earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 or higher shook the earth, culminating in a 6.6 magnitude earthquake that caused the catastrophic meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear reactor and the concurrent 9.1 magnitude earthquake in Tohuka, Japan that killed over 20,000 people. Powerful earthquakes shook the Kermadec Islands region of New Zealand on Thursday, setting off tsunami warnings.

“But attention should be paid to less dramatic geologic rumblings as well. Iceland was hit by more than 18,000 earthquakes in the past week including a magnitude 7.3 earthquake, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake, and a magnitude 8.1 earthquake. In addition, authorities are warning that two volcanoes in a densely populated region of the country could erupt at literally any moment.

“The number of earthquakes is increasing.  In the first 65 days of 1921, exactly one century ago, only seven major earthquakes, magnitude 6 or higher were recorded globally according to the USGS DataBase. In the same period last year, a total of 24 major quakes, magnitude 6 or higher were recorded around the globe. Back in 2019, just 20 major quakes had been reported up to March the 6th, just 50% of this year’s total. In 2018, a total of 24 major quakes were reported in the first 65 days of the year and in 2017 just 15. 24 major earthquakes were recorded in the beginning of 2016 and in 2015, just 18…

“But earthquakes aren’t the only concern. Europe’s most active volcano, Mount Etna in Sicily, erupted seven times in the past two weeks. A large eruption started at Sangay volcano, Ecuador on Saturday. An earthquake swarm shook Mount Hood, a potentially active stratovolcano near Portland, Oregon for 45 minutes last week… Mount Sinabung in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province began erupting last Tuesday, sending volcanic materials as high as 16,400 feet into the sky with authorities recording 13 times when it released ash clouds. Three weeks ago,  Fuego volcano, located 50 kilometers away from the capital city of Guatemala, started to erupt. As of yesterday 43 volcanoes around were erupting or showing signs of activity… Since January 20, 2021, 1,722 weak earthquakes were detected under the Pinatubo Volcano in the Philippines.”

Increased earthquakes here and there and other natural catastrophes are part of the “beginning of sorrows,” according to the words of Jesus Christ.

US Has More Tornadoes than any Other Country

CNN wrote on March 7:

“The US averages over 1,150 tornadoes every year. That’s more than any other country. In fact, it’s more than Canada, Australia and all European countries combined… Other countries experience tornadoes, including Germany, Australia, South Africa, eastern China, Japan, Bangladesh, Argentina, and more. Europe as a whole is comparable to the size of the US, but there is a vast difference in number of tornadoes and tornado fatalities…

“Outside of the US, Canada actually ranks second on the list for most tornadoes, with an average of 100 per year…”

Increasing Catastrophes, especially for the USA, ARE prophesied.

Swiss Voters Approve Ban of Wearing Burqas in Public

The New York Post wrote on March 7:

“Swiss voters narrowly approved on Sunday a proposal to ban face coverings, both the niqabs and burqas worn by a few Muslim women in the country and the ski masks and bandannas used by protesters. The measure will outlaw covering one’s face in public places like restaurants, sports stadiums, public transport or simply walking in the street. It foresees exceptions at religious sites and for security or health reasons, such as face masks people are wearing now to protect against COVID-19, as well as for traditional Carnival celebrations. Authorities have two years to draw up detailed legislation.

“Two Swiss cantons, or states, Ticino and St. Gallen, already have similar legislation that foresees fines for transgressions. National legislation will put Switzerland in line with countries such as Belgium and France that have already enacted similar measures. The Swiss government had opposed the measure… It argued that the ban could harm tourism — most Muslim women who wear such veils in Switzerland are visitors from well-heeled Persian Gulf states, who are often drawn to Swiss lakeside cities…

“Supporters of the proposal… argued that the full-face coverings symbolize the repression of women and said the measure is needed to uphold a basic principle that faces should be shown in a free society like Switzerland’s.

“In the end, 51.2% of voters supported the plan. There were majorities against it in six of Switzerland’s 26 cantons — among them those that include the country’s three biggest cities, Zurich, Geneva and Basel, and the capital, Bern. SRF public television reported that voters in several popular tourist destinations including Interlaken, Lucerne and Zermatt rejected it. Backers included the nationalist Swiss People’s Party, which is the strongest in parliament. The committee that launched the proposal is led by a lawmaker from the party, Walter Wobmann, and also initiated a ban on the construction of new minarets that voters approved in 2009.”

While wearing face masks, including double face masks, is encouraged and required, burqas and ski masks are prohibited. Insanity rules the world.

Censorship in the USA

The Ron Paul Institute published an article on March 4 which originally appeared in the Washington Times. We are bringing you the following excerpts:

“… how can Mark Twain’s ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,’ or Laura Ingalls Wilder’s ‘Little House on the Prairie’ series, or J.M. Barrie’s ‘Peter Pan’ [survive,] each with their own set of perceived and real stereotypes and slurs? Even Roald Dahl’s original ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ has inspired criticism over the depiction of the Oompa Loompas as jungle-dwellers. Let’s not forget Margaret Mitchell’s ‘Gone With the Wind,’ in all its slavery glory, or Charles Dickens’ ‘Oliver Twist,’ in all its anti-Semitic glory, or Lynne Reid Banks’ ‘The Indian in the Cupboard,’ in all its — well, the title speaks volumes on that one…

“The list is endless. The list can be endless. Even the Bible speaks to the enslavement of various peoples.

“Are we to turn off all the offensive to our ears, in some sort of — futile — attempt to whitewash, er, erase, not just history, but fancy and fiction and flights of imaginations?… This is about the shape of censorship things to come. It’s about a growing acceptance of blotting out all offenses, in the hope that ignoring offenses means the offenses don’t occur — in fact, that they never did occur. That’s erasing history. That’s living a lie…

“Word is next up are L. Frank Baum’s ‘Wizard of Oz’ series.  Let the burning begin. The trouble, of course, will be to know the exact point to extinguish the fire…”

Terrible memories of book burnings in Nazi Germany come to mind, and the banishment of books in East Germany after the Russians took over. Not to speak of all the prohibited books in dictatorships all over the world. In times past, it was prohibited by the Catholic Church to read the Bible. Where is all of this going…?

Newsmax published on March 8 an article by Alan Dershowitz. We are bringing you the following excepts:

“If cancel culture were to accept the notion that a person should be totally cancelled based on only a portion of his output, we would have to comb the libraries, book stores and eBook sites for offenders. Near the top of the list would be Fyodor Dostoevsky, perhaps the greatest writer of modern times. In addition to his monumental novels such as ‘The Brothers Karamazov’ and ‘Crime and Punishment,’ he wrote an essay that could easily have been mistaken for a chapter straight out of ‘Mein Kampf’ by Adolph Hitler. In his essay on ‘The Jewish Question,’ he rails against the Jewish faith, culture, and people. He claims that Jews hoard gold so that they can easily carry it with them to the promised land. He accuses them of duel loyalty, deception and other sins…

“Should Renoir be cancelled because of his sexist and degrading views toward women— he said they belonged only in the kitchen and bedroom—which are reflected in some of his paintings? Or for his racism and anti-Semitism? What about Picasso?

“The list of people who have expressed bigoted views in their writings includes Mark Twain, Theodore Dreiser, T.S. Eliot, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Margaret Sanger, Walt Disney, Malcolm X and Roald Dahl…

“The disgraceful treatment accorded Kate Smith is a case in point. The totality of this great singer’s career was positive, but she was cancelled, as was her stirring rendition of God Bless America, because it was discovered that when she was young she recorded several songs that by today’s standards contained racially insensitive lyrics (which she didn’t write)…”

The concept of “cancel culture,” as described herein, is a dangerous development. And it seems to be growing continuously. Note the next article.

Breitbart wrote on March 9:

“Children can no longer watch Dumbo, Peter Pan, Swiss Family Robinson, and The Aristocats on Disney’s Disney+ streaming service while using the ‘Kids Profile’ mode, which filters out titles flagged with content warnings — including scenes now deemed racist… it is now up to parents if they want their children to watch the cartoons.”

Parents should be knowledgeable about what their children watch anyhow. But the underlying motive by the Disney enterprise is of course quite too obvious.

U.S. Supreme Court Disposes of Last Trump Case re Election Results

Thomson/Reuters reported on March 8:

“The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday disposed of the last of three cases brought to the justices by former President Donald Trump challenging his election loss, ending his legal efforts to hold onto power. The court without comment rejected Trump’s appeal challenging thousands of absentee ballots filed in Wisconsin…

“The court on Feb. 22 turned away Trump’s other two appeals — a second Wisconsin challenge and one relating to voting in Pennsylvania…

“It already was clear that the high court… had no intention to intervene in the cases and others filed by his allies because it did not act before Congress on Jan. 6 certified Biden’s victory…

“Trump continues to claim that the Nov. 3 presidential election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud and irregularities. Republicans are focusing on those allegations in… an effort to impose new voting restrictions in numerous states.

The Supreme Court’s refusal to review any of those cases will make many Trump supporters very unhappy.

Trump Buddha Statue

meaww.com wrote on March 10:

“Trump Buddha statues sell like hot cakes on Chinese shopping portal Taobao…  While the statue shows Trump with his trademark hairdo, it has, uncharacteristically, a rather peaceful expression on his face. His hands are seen resting on his lap, referencing the traditional iconography of Buddhist statues in China. As per an Insider report, the figurine’s description says: ‘Trump, who knows Buddhism better than anyone.’”

First a golden statue of Trump at CPAC 2021, and now this. And Trump knows Buddhism better than anyone???

House Passes $1.9 Trillion Spending Bill

MSN wrote on March 10:

“The House Wednesday passed a $1.9 trillion spending package, sending the bill to President Biden [President Biden signed the bill on Thursday]… Not a single Republican voted for the bill. The measure will provide a new round of $1,400 stimulus checks, enhanced weekly unemployment benefits and expanded child tax credits… Democrats passed the bill over the objections of all House Republicans, who said the package was too expensive and dedicated mostly to wasteful spending unrelated to the pandemic…

“The legislation, Republicans argued, dedicates about 9 percent of funding to combating Covid-19 and just one percent to production and distribution of the critical vaccines… But Democrats argued the massive spending package is exactly what the nation is demanding after a year of Covid-19 and goes even further to alleviate longstanding poverty…”

An American Crisis Greater than the Great Depression?

Ron Paul wrote the following on March 8 in the Ron Paul Institute:

“According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), 2021 will be the second year in a row in which the federal debt exceeds Gross Domestic Product (GDP). CBO also projected that this year’s federal deficit will be 2.3 trillion dollars, which is 900 billion dollars less than last year. However, CBO’s projections do not include the 1.9 trillion dollars ‘stimulus’ bill Congress is likely to pass. [Subsequently, it was passed and signed by the President]. The CBO’s report was largely ignored by Congress and the media…

“The overreaction to coronavirus is a cause of the explosion in federal spending and debt we have witnessed over the last year. However, federal spending already greatly increased from January 2017 until the lockdowns. This spending growth occurred under a Republican president, a Republican Senate, and, from 2017 to 2019, a Republican House…

“Republican hypocrisy in claiming to care about spending and debt only when a Democrat sits in the Oval Office is one reason why Democrats can so easily disregard debt… Unless the government changes course, America will experience a crisis greater than the Great Depression. The crisis will include a final rejection of the dollar’s world reserve currency status. There will also be much increased price inflation…

“Those who know the truth [need to] ensure they and their families are protected when the crash comes…”

 Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

Covid Passports by this Summer?

Breitbart wrote on February 26:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel claimed that there is a unanimous agreement within the European Union on implementing a coronavirus vaccine passport, during a virtual meeting of EU member states on Thursday. The German leader said that ‘everyone agreed that we need a digital vaccination certificate,’ following the meeting of European leaders. Merkel said that such a system could be implemented as soon as the summer, but claimed that the introduction of a vaccine passport ‘does not mean that only those who have a vaccination passport are allowed to travel,’ according to the German broadcaster DW.

“European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen praised Israel’s implementation of ‘Green Passes’, a system in which the government tracks and documents an individual’s vaccination history in order to facilitate travel or to attend synagogues, theatres, concerts, or to go to the gym… The embattled EU president did note that member states will ‘have to act fast’ in order to implement a vaccine passport before the summer. To date, the European Union has only inoculated eight per cent of its population…

“The failure to vaccinate a significant portion of the population has led to concerns that vaccine passports would be discriminatory. Angela Merkel admitted as much this week…  Southern EU member states, such as Spain, Italy, and Greece have been pushing for the adoption of a COVID pass, in order to facilitate travel…  Other countries, such as France, have expressed concerns about discrimination as well as the lack of evidence over whether vaccinated people can still transmit the Wuhan virus…

“There is a growing push within Britain’s notionally conservative government for the adoption of a vaccine passport, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggesting earlier this week that Brits might be required to carry health passes to even make simple domestic visits like going to the pub or the theatre… Cabinet Minister Michael Gove will be heading up the government’s research into adopting a vaccine passport system, despite definitively stating in December that Brits would not be required to provide proof of vaccination to go to the pub.”

The conservative German paper, Die Welt, wrote on February 26 that at first it went rather slowly, and now there is a rush, especially through Jens Spahn, to create a vaccination passport. The paper had this headline: “Then the limitations of freedom rights can hardly be justified.” (“Dann lässt sich die Begrenzung der Freiheitsrechte kaum noch begründen.“)

Merkel Meltdown

Express reported on February 27:

“Germany has been under a strict coronavirus clampdown since December, which has seen non-essential shops and schools along with pubs and restaurants forced to shut up shop. [Merkel] had been in favour of extending the lockdown as a result of the emergence of more contagious Covid strains. She has warned the country that it could face a ‘third wave’ if restrictions are lifted too quickly. However, regional leaders have decided to defy the Chancellor and take matters into their own hands.

“Even her staunchest lockdown supporter, Bavarian leader Markus Söder, is said to be at odds with her position. Several of the country’s regions will now allow limited opening of businesses from Monday, such as garden centres, florists and nail parlours. Ms Merkel appears to be losing public support for her hard stance on lockdown.

“According to a poll conducted by the German TV channel ZDF, 56 percent supported plans to partially ease restrictions, whereas 41 percent were opposed…”

Bild Online charged Merkel with ruling from a high-rise building, without any personal contact with people, thereby forgetting their needs and suffering.

More Lockdowns in Germany… Will this Madness Never End?

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 2:

“Germany’s national government and states are set to extend the COVID-19 lockdown by three weeks, to March 28, according to a draft document seen by DW… According to the draft text, up to five adults from two households would be allowed to gather from March 8, with up to 10 adults allowed in areas with low infection rates. Under current rules, each household can only socialize with one other person. The German government is also expected to appeal to citizens to avoid domestic and foreign travel over the Easter period…

“Most shops have stayed closed since tighter restrictions were introduced on December 16. Restaurants, bars, sports and leisure venues have all been closed since November 2. Hotels…  are currently closed to all but business travelers.”

Germany’s AfD Under Surveillance

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 3:

“Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) have placed the Alternative for Germany (AfD) under surveillance, according to local media.

“That designation gives state agents more powers for surveillance in certain circumstances, including potentially tapping the party’s communications.

“The BfV refused to comment on media reports from Der Spiegel magazine, the DPA news agency and public broadcaster ARD. The Interior Ministry, which oversees the BfV, said it would neither confirm nor deny them. The BfV is apparently unable to announce the decision officially because of an ongoing legal dispute.”

This move is highly problematic, as the AfD constitutes the largest opposition party in parliament.

Catholic Bishops Warn of Johnson & Johnson Vaccine

Forbes wrote on March 2:

“The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops—the official group representing the church in the U.S.—urged Catholics Tuesday to avoid taking the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine if other options are available, saying the J&J vaccine ‘raises questions about the moral permissibility’—even though Johnson & Johnson has stated it did not use fetal tissues in its vaccine.

“The directive says the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should be avoided since it was ‘developed, tested and is produced with abortion-derived cell lines.’ In a statement to Forbes, Johnson & Johnson said ‘there is no fetal tissue’ in its vaccine, adding the company used an ‘engineered cell-line system that enables the rapid production of new viral vaccines to combat many of the most dangerous infectious diseases,’ though it did not offer further specifics on its process.

“Pfizer and Moderna, on the other hand, did not use abortion-derived cell lines in production, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas—chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities—said in a statement. The J&J vaccine was approved for U.S. use on Saturday, and has been touted as a major step in vaccinating the population since the vaccine only requires one shot, while the other two approved so far both require two doses.

“The statement from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is the most significant opposition the J&J vaccine has coming from an official body of the Catholic church…

“The Vatican released a statement in December after questions were raised over vaccine ethics, in which it asserted ‘it is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses’ in cases where ‘ethically irreproachable Covid-19 vaccines are not available.’”

U.S. Airstrike Against Syria

Breitbart wrote on February 26:

“President Joe Biden authorized his first military action on Thursday: airstrikes on facilities in Syria used by militias linked to Iran. The airstrikes came in response to attacks on American personnel in Iraq… some [were] questioning whether the airstrikes were authorized under the existing Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). Others noted that the airstrikes mark a 180-degree turn for Biden and members of his administration.

“Last year, Biden was among those who criticized President Donald Trump’s airstrike on Iranian terrorist General Qasem Soleimani. He called it ‘a hugely escalatory move in an already dangerous region,’ and claimed — falsely, as it turned out — that the attack would provoke, rather than deter, the Iranian regime. ‘We could be on the brink of a major conflict across the Middle East,’ Biden said — wrongly, again, as peace deals soon emerged. Vice President Kamala Harris, then a Senator from California, was also critical of airstrikes by President Trump on the Syrian regime after the U.S. found evidence that dictator Bashar al-Assad was still using chemical weapons: ‘I strongly support our men and women in uniform and believe we must hold Assad accountable for his unconscionable use of chemical weapons. But I am deeply concerned about the legal rationale of last night’s strikes.’

“White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, who had served in the Obama administration, objected to Trump’s initial airstrike in Syria in 2017… ‘Also what is the legal authority for strikes? Assad is a brutal dictator. But Syria is a sovereign country.’”

The Week added on February 26:

“Some Democrats are criticizing U.S. airstrikes in Syria, while many Republicans are praising President Biden’s move… While Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the limited scope of the airstrikes ‘aims to de-escalate the overall situation in both eastern Syria and Iraq,’ many Democrats expressed concerns on Friday that the move has done just the opposite, and argued it was unconstitutional without congressional authorization. Many Republicans, meanwhile, called the U.S. response a necessary deterrent that was proportional. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki defended the action, saying ‘there was a thorough, legal response’ and the Defense Department briefed congressional leadership in advance.”

npr wrote on February 26:

“… Democratic lawmakers on Friday sought justification from the Biden administration for Thursday’s airstrikes in Syria…

“‘The American people deserve to hear the Administration’s rationale for these strikes and its legal justification for acting without coming to Congress,’ Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine said… ‘Offensive military action without congressional approval is not constitutional absent extraordinary circumstances. Congress must be fully briefed on this matter expeditiously.’…

“Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont warned against the president overreaching in his powers to declare military actions. ‘While the President has a responsibility to defend the people of the United States, our Constitution is clear that it is the Congress, not the President, who has the authority to declare war,’ he said…

“Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California made a similar argument: ‘We cannot stand up for Congressional authorization before military strikes only when there is a Republican President,’ he said. ‘The Administration should have sought Congressional authorization here. We need to work to extricate from the Middle East, not escalate.’…

“In 2017, just a few months into then-President Trump’s administration…  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi [asked] for immediate debate over congressional authority for any future military action.”

Even Adam Schiff said that Biden’s notification of congressional leaders prior to the strike was inadequate. At least 22 people were killed in Thursday’s airstrikes.

Airstrike on Syria… an impeachable Offense?

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on March 1:

“As with Presidents Obama and Trump before him, however, Biden’s justification for the US strike and its targets is not credible. And his claim that the US attack would result in a ‘de-escalation’ in the region is laughable. You cannot bomb your way toward de-escalation. Biden thus joins a shameful club of US leaders whose interventions in the Middle East, and Syria specifically, have achieved nothing in the US interest but have contributed to the deaths of many thousands of civilians.

“President Trump attacked Syria in 2018 in what he claimed was retaliation for the Assad government’s use of chemical weapons against its own citizens. The Trump Administration never proved its claim. Logic itself suggests how ridiculous it would have been for the Syrian president to have used chemical weapons in that situation, where they achieved no military purpose and would almost certainly guarantee further outside attacks against his government.

“Trump’s 2018 attack only added to the misery of the Syrian people, who suffered under US sanctions and then suffered President Obama’s ‘Assad must go’ intervention that trained and armed al-Qaeda affiliated groups to overthrow the government. Trump’s airstrike on Syria did nothing to further real American interests in the region. But sending in 100 Tomahawk missiles to blow up a few empty buildings did a great deal to further the bottom line of missile-maker Raytheon. Interestingly, Biden’s Secretary of Defense came to the Administration straight from his previous position on the board of… Raytheon…

“The Democrats wasted four years trying to remove Trump from office under the bogus ‘Russiagate’ lie and then the equally ridiculous and discredited claim that Trump led an insurrection against the government on January 6th. Yet when Trump started raining bombs down on Syria with no Congressional declaration of war or even authorization, most Democrats stood up and cheered…

“In fact, initiating a war against a country that did not attack and does not threaten the United States without Congressional authority is an impeachable offense. But both parties – with a few exceptions – are war parties.

“President Biden should be impeached for his attack on Syria, as should have Trump and Obama before him. But no one in Washington is going to pursue impeachment charges against a president who recklessly takes the United States to war… Isn’t it strange how we’ve heard nothing about ISIS for the past couple of years, but suddenly the mainstream media tells us the ISIS is back and on the march? When President Biden says ‘America is back,’ what he really means is ‘the war party is back.’ As if they ever left.”

 These are words only very few are willing to hear. But war is wrong, no matter under what President, and it is condemned by God.

Biden backpedals on Sanctioning Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince over Khashoggi’s Murder

The Week wrote on February 26:

“The U.S. on Friday released a report publicly pinning the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Khashoggi, a Saudi columnist who criticized the crown while writing for The Washington Post, was killed and dismembered in 2018 after entering Turkey’s Saudi consulate. The crown prince had been suspected of ordering the killing, and U.S. intelligence affirmed that in a declassified report.

“The report is not new, and is largely based on CIA intelligence gathered in 2018. President Biden’s administration also announced new sanctions against Saudi operatives who were allegedly involved in the killing, but not against the crown prince, as The New York Times reports the president has ‘decided that the price of directly penalizing’ him is ‘too high.’”

CNN added on February 26:

“Despite promising to punish senior Saudi leaders while on the campaign trail,  President Joe Biden declined to apply sanctions to the one the US intelligence community determined is responsible for the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“The choice not to punish Prince Mohammed directly puts into sharp relief the type of decision-making that becomes more complicated for a president versus a candidate, and demonstrates the difficulty in breaking with a troublesome ally in a volatile region… It was a far cry from a comment in November 2019, in which Biden promised to punish senior Saudi leaders in a way former President Donald Trump wouldn’t.”

More broken promises. Even left-liberal news sources can see that. Also note the next article.

Left-Liberal Washington Post Criticizes Biden

Newsmax wrote on February 26:

“A Washington Post editorial Friday criticized President Joe Biden for failing to sanction Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for approving the murder of the newspaper’s former columnist, Jamal Khashoggi. Friday’s Post op-ed was entitled ‘Mohammed bin Salman is guilty of murder. Biden should not give him a pass.’…  The Post then called out the new president for not putting in place any kind of official government punishment against MBS. The newspaper’s op-ed board suggested a travel ban and asset freeze on the prince.

“‘That President Biden has chosen not to pursue that course suggests that the “fundamental” change he promised in U.S.-Saudi relations will not include holding to account its reckless ruler, who consequently is unlikely to be deterred from further criminal behavior,’ the op-ed board said. According to the op-ed, without imposed penalties, MBS will feel strengthened to kill more dissidents at home and abroad…”

Hyperinflation Coming?

Newsmax published on February 26 an article with the following headline: “Biden Stimulus Could Push US Into Devastating Hyperinflation.”

The article continued:

“Economic experts are waving red flags to Congress and the Biden administration, warning that if the United States continues on its present course of profligate spending coupled with extreme business lockdowns, we could be heading to a period of hyperinflation.

“How hyper? Some are thinking of the German Weimar Republic, when people reportedly used wheelbarrows of cash to buy groceries.”

China Warns of “Side Effects” of US Economic Stimulus

scmp.com wrote on March 2:

“The ‘side effects’ of aggressive economic stimulus policies in the United States and other developed countries have started to surface in the US stock market, China’s top financial regulator warned on Tuesday, saying officials in Beijing were ‘very worried’ that foreign asset bubbles could burst soon. Guo Shuqing, Communist Party secretary of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), identified the US market – the world’s largest – as the greatest bubble risk in the global economy when asked on Tuesday.

“His comments are the latest in a string of warnings made by policymakers in Beijing about mounting external financial threats and their potential impact on the Chinese economy. They also come as the US Congress moves closer to passing President Joe Biden’s US$1.9 trillion pandemic aid package, which would add to nearly US$4 trillion in US economic stimulus unleashed last year and liberal liquidity provided to American financial markets to support growth by the Federal Reserve…

“Former Chinese finance minister Lou Jiwei said in February that Washington was transferring its debt burden to the rest of the world through its economic aid programme… Some analysts have expressed concerns that the American package will plough money into a global economy already awash in liquidity, with the extra funds ending up in China, resulting in imported inflation.”

Trump Remains Dominant Force in GOP

On February 27, The Associated Press published an article with the following headline: “Trump the Dominant Force at Conservative Conference.”

The article continued:

“A conference dedicated to the future of the conservative movement turned into an ode to Donald Trump as speakers declared their fealty to the former president and attendees posed for selfies with a golden statue of his likeness. As the Republican Party grapples with deep divisions over the extent to which it should embrace Trump after losing the White House and both chambers of Congress, those gathered at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday made clear they are not ready to move on from the former president — or from his baseless charges that the November election was rigged against him.

“‘Donald J. Trump ain’t going anywhere,’ said Texas Sen. Ted Cruz…  Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo… drew among the loudest applause and a standing ovation when he bragged about challenging the election certification on Jan. 6… ‘We cannot — we will not — go back to the days of the failed Republican establishment of yesteryear,’ said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis…  ‘We will not win the future by trying to go back to where the Republican Party used to be,’ echoed Florida Sen. Rick Scott… ‘If we do, we will lose the working base that President Trump so animated…’ Donald Trump Jr. lit into Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican, who has faced tremendous backlash for her vote to impeach Trump for inciting the Capitol riot…

“[Trump] was present in spirit in the form of a large golden statue erected in a merchandise show booth, where attendees could pose for pictures with it.”

A golden statue of Trump’s likeness? Terrible memories of Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue in Daniel 3 come to mind. Some have also drawn a parallel to the golden calf in Exodus 32. Compare also 1 Kings 12:28.

Trump Returns

Newsmax wrote on February 28:

“Putting to rest talk of a third party to break off from the GOP, former President Donald Trump said there will be only the Republican Party united, all the way… The speech to CPAC was Trump’s first public appearance since he left office 39 days ago…

“In a straw poll, 97% of attendees approved of his leadership of the party, 70% want him to run again and 55% said he was their preferred candidate in 2024. Trump’s rousing reception at the most important conservative gathering on the calendar highlights just how much Trump has transformed the movement in just five years…”

Fox News added on 2-28:

“Trump did not declare a 2024 run, although he did say he might consider beating Democrats ‘for a third time”’– in reference to his claim that he won the 2020 election… He predicted that a ‘Republican president will make a triumphant return to the White House [in 2024].’ ‘And I wonder who that will be, I wonder who that will be?’ he said to cheers from the crowd. ‘Who, who, who will that be I wonder?’”

In a subsequent interview with Newsmax, Trump said he had not decided yet as to whether or not he will run in 2024, but he said that if he did, then he could not imagine someone else who could win.

Former Vice President Mike Pence breaks his silence

The Week wrote on March 3:

“Former Vice President Mike Pence broke his silence Wednesday with an op-ed in The Daily Signal, criticizing congressional Democrats for their voter reform push and giving new life to former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Despite being a central target of the mob that breached the Capitol on Jan. 6 because of his refusal to answer Trump’s call to somehow block the Electoral College certification, Pence claimed the election was ‘marked by significant irregularities and numerous instances of officials setting aside election law.’

“Without outright calling the 2020 vote fraudulent, Pence framed its outcome as uncertain to argue that Congress should not pass HR 1, the For the People Act, which includes measures such as required early voting and same-day voter registration in every state. Pence called the bill ‘an unconstitutional power grab.’”

California’s Churches Must Be Allowed to open for Indoor Services

East Bay Times wrote on February 26:

“The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected Santa Clara County’s ban on indoor worship services, ordering California’s only holdout to fall in line with the rest of the state… By a 6-3 vote, the court ruled that the county must allow indoor worship services to resume at 20% capacity in Santa Clara County, calling an earlier decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to allow the county to keep its ban in place ‘erroneous.’…

“Following the high court’s lifting of California’s statewide ban on indoor religious services, Santa Clara County argued that it was not subject to the ruling because it prohibited all indoor gatherings — regardless of whether they’re related to religion — rather than instituting a specific ban on indoor religious services.”

Denmark Tries to restrict Religious Liberties

UG Christian News wrote on February 4:

“Christian Churches in Denmark are pushing back against a new draft law that requires all sermons in foreign languages to be translated into the country’s native language (Danish) and submitted to the government for approval… The bill has the backing of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen… It is unclear whether the law would require sermon translations to be sent to the government before or after being given…

“Anglican Bishop Robert Innes of the European diocese said… [that the] proposal also has practical problems… arguing it is not feasible to translate a weekly sermon delivered extemporaneously. ‘Preachers don’t always write full text of their sermons, they might write notes,’ Innes said. ‘They might preach extempore as the archbishop of Canterbury sometimes does and there are questions of idiom and nuance which requires a high level of skill in translation of course. It is a high bar. It is a skilled art and it is an expensive skill as well.’ ‘We do not only hold services on Sundays, but also baptisms, weddings and funerals, throughout the week,” Rajah Scheepers, who serves as pastor of St. Petri church in Copenhagen told media. ‘It is not realistic to expect that we simultaneously translate all these gatherings or that we translate them in advance.’…

“Catholic churches, too, oppose the idea. Anna Mirijam Kaschner, general secretary and spokeswoman of the Nordic bishops’ conference, reportedly said the proposed law would harm religious liberty. The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) General Secretary Rev. Dr Martin Junge reiterated his concerns on 26 January [saying] that: ‘This proposed legislation is contrary to specific provisions of the freedom of religion or belief, enshrined in international human rights law.’ Sources say the cost of translating sermons for the nation’s non-Danish-speaking congregations will be a staggering 37.4 million Danish krone ($6,069,589) per year, the Danish National Church’s Interchurch Council [estimated].”

Europe… with or without NATO?

On February 26, RTL Today republished an article by AFP, as follows:

“EU leaders agreed Friday that the bloc should take more responsibility for its own security, insisting Brussels needs to be a strong partner for NATO and the United States… ‘We want to act more strategically, to defend our interests and to promote our values,’ European Council President Charles Michel tweeted after a video summit. ‘We need to increase our ability to act autonomously and strengthen our cooperation with our partners.’

“NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg joined the summit to talk up cooperation in the face of worries the EU’s drive could undermine the US-backed alliance at a time new President Joe Biden is looking to strengthen it… ‘It makes it absolutely obvious that we need to work together,’ (Stoltenberg said).

“France is championing a push for ‘strategic autonomy’ — arguing the coronavirus pandemic, a resurgent Russia and former US leader Donald Trump’s threats to cut off allies show Europe has to be able to stand alone. ‘In the face of increased global instability, the EU needs to take more responsibility for its security,’ the leaders said in their official conclusions…

“EU ambitions on common defence have gathered steam in recent years, and all but two nations signed up to the landmark PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation) pact in 2017 to increase cooperation. The departure of Britain from the European Union saw the bloc lose some military and diplomatic heft, but also removed a fierce opponent of anything that might lead to a European army from the Brussels conversation.

“The EU is seeking to implement a multibillion-euro fund to co-finance industrial defence projects and the five-billion-euro European Peace Facility (EPF), allowing it to provide military equipment and assistance to partner countries.

“But key questions remain on how these projects will be implemented and the future of EU efforts. The bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is trying to define a ‘strategic compass’ so all nations can have a more united vision. ‘We need to find a common understanding of the challenges and threats to European Union … in order to propose ways to tackle them all together,’ he said.”

While France questions the NATO alliance, Germany gives lip service for their strong support. But that may change soon.

EU and Iran Deal vs. Israel

The Times of Israel wrote on February 26:

“The top European Union diplomat supervising the international agreement aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions called Friday for a concerted effort to reinvigorate the pact even as Tehran appears to be reneging on some of its commitments… Iran this week effectively set a deadline to lift the US sanctions within three months, after which it said it would erase surveillance footage of its nuclear facilities. It has also limited some monitoring of its activities, which the EU says are meant to help ensure that Tehran’s nuclear work is peaceful. The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has also reported that Iran has added 17.6 kilograms (38.8 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 20% to its stockpile as of Feb. 16 — far past the 3.67% purity allowed under the JCPOA….

“Netanyahu on Thursday said he has told Biden that he will do whatever it takes to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, regardless of whether Washington reenters the nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic. ‘I told him, with or without an agreement, my obligation as the prime minister of Israel, as the prime minister of the Jewish state, is to prevent a recurrence of the terrible things that have been done to our people,’ he said in an interview with Channel 13. ‘There is a regime whose flagship goal is to destroy us. I will do everything I can, everything in my power, to prevent it from attaining nuclear weapons,’ he said.”

Israel may find itself all alone in this challenge.

No Access of Jews to Al Aqsa Mosque

Israel Today wrote on February 26:

“Israel this week sought to install a vaccine station on the Temple Mount inside the clinic of the Al Aqsa Mosque. The idea was to provide vaccines for Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem and especially those coming from the West Bank on Fridays in order to pray at the third holiest site in Islam.

“The request [was] decisively rejected by both the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, an Islamic religious trust that controls and manages Islamic edifices on the Temple Mount compound. It was reported that the request even reached the hands of PA President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. The reaction was furious, stating that they refuse to allow Israel any kind of access to the Al Aqsa Mosque.

“Israel’s request made clear that all of the paramedics administering the vaccine would be Arab and that none of Israel’s national symbols would be in sight. In addition, the request promised that the Muslim worshippers would not know that the station was provided by Israel. But the Israeli assurances were of no avail.“

This fanatical resistance will backfire.

Russia’s Persecutions

Bloomberg wrote on February 28:

“Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who survived a chemical poisoning last year that he called a Kremlin attempt to kill him, has begun serving his two-and-a-half-year sentence at a notorious penal camp… The jail, where inmates are housed in barracks and typically do manual labor, is classified as a ‘red zone’ where the administration controls every aspect of life…

“Konstantin Kotov, an opposition activist who was freed in December after 1 1/2 years at the same prison, said he was subjected to constant intimidation. This included repeated punishment for so-called infringements such as not saluting a prison guard or borrowing someone’s gloves — with those that his relatives sent him not being delivered — as well as isolating him from other inmates…

“Navalny received the sentence for failing to check in with the authorities while recovering in Germany from the near-fatal nerve agent attack in August. Western governments have also blamed the Kremlin for the poisoning, while Russian authorities deny any role…

“Navalny’s arrest in mid-January when he returned to Russia provoked the biggest anti-Kremlin protests in years and was condemned by the European Union and the U.S…. Authorities cracked down on the demonstrations last month, detaining more than 11,000 people and prosecuting key Navalny allies.”

Deutsche Welle added on March 2:

“The US on Tuesday slapped sanctions on Russian individuals and entities…

“The EU imposed bans on travel and froze the assets in Europe of Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Igor Krasnov, the prosecutor general, Viktor Zolotov, head of the National Guard, and Alexander Kalashnikov, head of the Federal Prison Service… US Treasury Department said the US was also imposing sanctions on Krasnov and Kalashnikov… The US Treasury also announces sanctions on Alexander Bortnikov, director of Russia’s federal security service, Andrei Yarin, head of presidential policy directorate, and deputy defense ministers Alexei Krivoruchko and Pavel Popov…

“Brussels said Bastrykin, Krasnov, Zolotov and Kalashnikov were listed ‘over their roles in the arbitrary arrest, prosecution and sentencing of Alexei Navalny, as well as the repression of peaceful protests in connection with his unlawful treatment.’ A senior US official has stated: ‘The intelligence community assesses with high confidence that officers of Russia’s Federal Security Service FSB used a nerve agent known as Novichok to poison Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on August 20, 2020.’

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview released Tuesday Washington intends to “take the appropriate actions as we see fit to make very clear that this kind of conduct is unacceptable for us, and we’ll do it with our allies and partners.”…

“The EU, which already had imposed sanctions against a small number of Russian officials, is expected to announce more sanctions. The US has also said it plans to respond soon to the Russian hack of federal government agencies and US corporations which exposed potentially sensitive information to the Kremlin.”

Russia announced that they will reciprocate regarding the “largely symbolic” sanctions (US News, March 2).

Pope Warns of a Worldwide Flood

Daily Mail wrote on March 2:

“Pope Francis has warned that mankind is facing a second great flood caused by climate change unless leaders act to fix corruption and injustice. The 84-year-old said that, in the story of the great flood in the Bible, God used his wrath to punish injustice and ‘clean up’ the world. He then added that humanity is facing another ‘great deluge, perhaps due to a rise in temperature and the melting of glaciers. [That is] what will happen now if we continue on the same path,’ he said…

“While discussing justice, Francis brings up the example of the biblical flood which destroyed the world except for Noah – who was deemed virtuous enough to survive. The flood itself may have been a myth, Francis says, but it is used as an example to show how God uses wrath to punish injustice and right wrongs in the world.”

God said very clearly that no worldwide flood will ever come upon the earth again (Genesis 9:11, 15), but since Pope Francis believes that the flood might have been a myth (even though Jesus believed in it, Matthew 24:37-39, and so did Peter, 2 Peter 3:5-6), Pope Francis would not believe God’s clear words in the Bible either.

Pope Emeritus Benedict on Biden

Newsmax wrote on March 3:

“Pope emeritus Benedict XVI is expressing concerns about President Joe Biden’s position on abortion and tendency to fall in line with the Democratic Party platform. ‘It’s true, he’s Catholic and observant,’ Benedict told Italian publication Corriere della Sera on Monday. ‘And personally, he is against abortion. But as president, he tends to present himself in continuity with the line of the Democratic Party … and on gender policy, we still don’t really understand what his position is.’

“Biden, only the second Catholic president, after John F. Kennedy, is at odds with traditional Catholic teaching when it comes to his pro-choice stance on abortion and policies regarding sexual orientation and gender identity…

“The president revoked the Mexico City policy, which banned U.S. foreign aid for organizations promoting abortion abroad, and picked California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who the Times called a ‘pro-choice crusader,’ as his nominee for Health and Human Services secretary. Biden also supports the Equality Act— which would make sexual orientation and gender identity protected characteristics in civil rights law — that some Republicans say would curtail religious liberties.

“Benedict, who became the first pope to resign in almost 600 years, also commented on his decision to step down in 2013, The Tablet reports. ‘It was a difficult decision, but I made it in full awareness, and I believe I did the right thing,’ the retired pope said. ‘Some of my slightly “fanatical” friends are still angry, they didn’t want to accept my choice. I think of the conspiracy theories that followed it … They don’t want to believe in a conscious choice. But my conscience is clear.’”

Our Late or Lost Mail

The Washington Post wrote on February 26:

“Mark Currie of Virginia had three checks snagged in postal delays in three months. In New Jersey, Lois Fitton says she was forced to pay interest on a credit card balance because the bill never arrived. Jim Rice says two insurance companies canceled policies for his property management business in Oklahoma after the payments got lost in the mail.

“As the service crisis at the U.S. Postal Service drags into its eighth month, complaints are reaching a fever pitch. Consumers are inundating members of Congress with stories of late bills — and the late fees they’ve absorbed as a result. Small-business owners are waiting weeks, even months, for checks to arrive, creating cash-flow crunches and debates on whether to switch to costlier private shippers. Large-scale mailers, such as banks and utilities, are urging clients to switch to paperless communication, a shift that would further undercut the agency’s biggest revenue stream.

“The growing outcry adds another dimension to the agency’s myriad crises: a clogged processing and transportation network, severe staffing shortages and $188.4 billion in liabilities. The prolonged performance declines have eroded the reputation of one of the few government agencies that boast generations of broad public support…

“The agency’s delivery times have sunk to historic lows… In most states, it took at least five days for a piece of first-class mail — such as a bill or paycheck — to arrive last month… the mail slowdowns — especially for credit card bills and payments — threaten to further burden American consumers already weighed down by debt…”

If you had ever wondered why your mail was so late or did not arrive at all…

Toys to be Neutral-Gender under Penalty of Hefty Fines

Fox Business wrote on February 25:

“California lawmakers are considering a bill that would penalize department stores for separating children’s toys, clothing and other items by gender… department stores with 500 or more employees would be subject to a $1,000 fine if they do not ‘correct a violation of these provisions within 30 days of receiving written notice of the violation.’ Stores would not have to change their products, but the products could not be displayed based on how they have ‘traditionally been marketed for either girls or for boys.’…

“The bill comes amid growing pushback by consumer advocacy groups to make toys more gender neutral…

“Hasbro, the company that’s made the potato-shaped plastic toy for nearly 70 years, announced this week it is giving the ‘Mr.’ Potato Head a gender-neutral new name: Potato Head. The change will appear on boxes this year… Barbie, for example, has tried to shed its blonde image and now comes in multiple skin tones and body shapes. The Thomas the Tank Engine toy line added more girl characters. And American Girl is now selling a boy doll.”

What complete and utter nonsense…

“Europe’s largest-ever cocaine bust worth billions”

The New York Daily News wrote on February 24:

“Billions of dollars-worth of drugs have been seized in Europe’s largest-ever cocaine bust. More than 50,700 pounds of coke were seized by German and Belgian authorities in the operation, which spanned over a week… The bust is also being hailed as one of the largest single seizures in the world. German officials found more than 17 tons of cocaine in containers that arrived in Hamburg from Paraguay…

“Dutch authorities then started investigating the recipient of the shipment, discovering 11 containers heading to Antwerp from Panama. These containers supposedly held mackerel, pineapple, squid, and wood. On Saturday, Belgian authorities discovered another 15,873 pounds of cocaine in the container transporting wood…”

What health damage that would have caused.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

Lies about the January 6 Riot

On February 19, the Ron Paul Institute republished, in part, the following article by Glenn Greenwald. After condemning the inexcusable violence of the mob, the author went on to say:

“One of the most significant of these falsehoods was the tale… that Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick was murdered by the pro-Trump mob when they beat him to death with a fire extinguisher… It took on such importance for a clear reason: Sicknick’s death was the only example the media had of the pro-Trump mob deliberately killing anyone…

“But none of the other four deaths were at the hands of the protesters: the only other person killed with deliberate violence was a pro-Trump protester, Ashli Babbitt, unarmed when shot in the neck by a police officer at close range. The other three deaths were all pro-Trump protesters: Kevin Greeson, who died of a heart attack outside the Capitol; Benjamin Philips, 50, ‘the founder of a pro-Trump website called Trumparoo,’ who died of a stroke that day; and Rosanne Boyland, a fanatical Trump supporter whom the Times says was inadvertently ‘killed in a crush of fellow rioters during their attempt to fight through a police line.’

“… Without Sicknick having his skull bashed in with a fire extinguisher, there were no deaths that day that could be attributed to deliberate violence by pro-Trump protesters. Three weeks later, The Washington Post said dozens of officers (a total of 140) had various degrees of injuries, but none reported as life-threatening, and at least two police officers committed suicide after the riot…

“After the media bombarded Americans with this story for a full month without pause, it took center stage at Trump’s impeachment process. As former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy noted, the article of impeachment itself stated that ‘Trump supporters ‘injured and killed law enforcement personnel.’ The House impeachment managers explicitly claimed on page 28 of their pretrial memorandum that ‘the insurrectionists killed a Capitol Police officer by striking him in the head with a fire extinguisher’…

“The problem with this story is that it is false in all respects. From the start, there was almost no evidence to substantiate it. The only basis were… two original New York Times articles asserting that this happened based on the claim of anonymous law enforcement officials. Despite this alleged brutal murder taking place in one of the most surveilled buildings on the planet, filled that day with hundreds of cellphones taping the events, nobody saw video of it. No photographs depicted it. To this day, no autopsy report has been released. No details from any official source have been provided.

“…On the same day the Times published its two articles with the ‘fire extinguisher’ story, ProPublica published one that should have raised serious doubts about it. The outlet interviewed Sicknick’s brother, who said that ‘Sicknick had texted [the family] Wednesday night to say that while he had been pepper-sprayed, he was in good spirits.’ That obviously conflicted with the Times’ story that the mob ‘overpowered Sicknick’ and ‘struck him in the head with a fire extinguisher,’ after which, ‘with a bloody gash in his head, Mr. Sicknick was rushed to the hospital and placed on life support.’…

“The fire extinguisher story was now a matter of lore. Nobody could question it. And nobody did: until after a February 2 CNN article that asked why nobody has been arrested for what clearly was the most serious crime committed that day: the brutal murder of Officer Sicknick with a fire extinguisher… the middle of the article provided evidence which essentially declared the original New York Times story false: ‘In Sicknick’s case, it’s still not known publicly what caused him to collapse the night of the insurrection. Findings from a medical examiner’s review have not yet been released and authorities have not made any announcements about that ongoing process. According to one law enforcement official, medical examiners did not find signs that the officer sustained any blunt force trauma, so investigators believe that early reports that he was fatally struck by a fire extinguisher are not true.’

“The CNN story speculates that perhaps Sicknick inhaled ‘bear spray,’ but like the ProPublica interview with his brother who said he inhaled pepper spray, does not say whether it came from the police or protesters… CNN noted that investigators are ‘vexed by a lack of evidence that could prove someone caused his death as he defended the Capitol during last month’s insurrection.’ Beyond that, ‘to date, little information has been shared publicly about the circumstances of the death of the 13-year veteran of the police force, including any findings from an autopsy that was conducted by DC’s medical examiner.’

“Few noticed this remarkable admission buried in this article. None of this was seriously questioned until a relatively new outlet called Revolver News on February 9 compiled and analyzed all the contradictions and lack of evidence in the prevailing story, after which Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, citing that article, devoted the first eight minutes of his February 10 program to examining these massive evidentiary holes.

“That caused right-wing media outlets to begin questioning what happened, but mainstream liberal outlets — those who spread the story aggressively in the first place — largely and predictably ignored it all. This week, the paper that first published the false story — in lieu of a retraction or an explanation of how and why it got the story wrong — simply went back to the first two articles, more than five weeks later, and quietly posted what it called an ‘update’ at the top of both five-week-old articles: ‘New Information has emerged regarding the death of the Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick that questions the initial cause of his death provided by officials close to the Capitol Police.”

“With the impeachment trial now over, the articles are now rewritten to reflect that the original story was false. But there was nothing done by The New York Times to explain an error of this magnitude, let alone to try to undo the damage it did by misleading the public. They did not expressly retract or even ‘correct’ the story…”

That is another example as to how the left-wing mass media fabricates and invents fake stories. Note the next article for another example as to how alternate viewpoints are being suppressed.

Facebook’s Censorship Continues

Breitbart wrote on February 21:

“Actor Kevin Sorbo was banned from Facebook for posting content that the platform’s ‘fact checkers’ have deemed to be ‘debunked’ information regarding coronavirus vaccines. Sorbo reacted to the ban by saying: ‘All I can say is that I find it amazing that a place like Facebook has more power than our government, apparently. And the government allows them to do what they’re doing right now, in terms of just canceling people that they don’t agree with…

“‘I post things that usually come from what other doctors are saying about the virus, or what other people are saying about the voter fraud, and if that doesn’t fit their narrative, they just get rid of you,’ he added. ‘Freedom of speech, obviously, as we know, has gone out the window,’ said Sorbo. The actor also mentioned that he is ‘more than happy to leave Facebook,’ but wishes that he had the chance to at least tell his 500,000 Facebook followers where they can follow him on CloutHub or Parler before he got banned from Zuckerberg’s platform… ‘Being a Christian and a conservative in Hollywood, that’s kind of is like being a double leper, so I’ve got my own battles to deal with,’ Sorbo added. ‘And thank God for independent movies, otherwise I wouldn’t have a career right now.’”

Sorbo became famous through his portrayal of Hercules in a long-running TV series. Subsequently, he did other TV series and played in numerous movies, until he began to make Christian-oriented movies, such as “God’s Not Dead” and “Let There be Light.”

60 Million Americans Don’t Believe in Biden’s Legitimacy as President

Breitbart wrote on February 22:

“A USA Today/Suffolk University poll found that only 17 percent of Trump voters believe… Joe Biden was legitimately elected, while 73 percent said he was not…

“Of course, there was voter fraud! Does this mean there was enough fraud to overturn the presidential election? We don’t know… And one thing that makes us suspicious is that no one wants to find out if there was voter fraud, most especially the establishment media. Instead of looking into the 2020 president election, instead of investigating what happened and taking people’s concerns seriously, the corporate media are only increasing our suspicions by refusing not only to look into what happened, but by writing those of us off who have questions as terrorists and conspiracy theorists. People with nothing to hide don’t freak out when you ask a question. Governments with nothing to hide don’t freak out when you make an inquiry…

“Trump voters have every reason to believe the 2020 election was stolen. That doesn’t mean it was stolen, but when you behave as though you have something to hide, people have every right to believe you have something to hide… We are unceasingly lied to by the corporate media, Big Tech, and the federal government. Whenever we ask questions, we are shouted down as liars and conspiracy theorists just before we are blacklisted. No one tells us the truth. No one is interested in discovering the truth. Anyone who questions any of this is canceled and attacked. Of course, this is going to breed suspicion, and it should breed suspicion… If three-quarters of Trump supporters do not accept Biden’s legitimacy, you’re talking about some 60 million Americans.”

This almost sounds like a quote from Isaiah 59:4, which reads: “No one calls for justice, Nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies…”

US Supreme Court Won’t Hear Election Cases Alleging Voter Fraud

Breitbart wrote on February 22:

“[On] Monday… the Supreme Court decided — by one vote –to hear none of the 2020 election cases raising issues of voter fraud and illegal votes. Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett voted with the liberal justices to deny review of the lower court decisions.

“Four justices must vote to hear a case to put it on the Court’s docket, but only three justices — Thomas, fellow conservative Samuel Alito, and libertarian Neil Gorsuch — voted to take at least two of four of the key cases from November 2020. All three dissenting justices took the unusual step of writing opinions as to why the Court should have taken at minimum two of these cases.

“‘The Constitution gives to each state legislature authority to determine the “Manner” of federal elections,’ began Thomas. ‘Yet both before and after the 2020 election, nonlegislative officials in various States took it upon themselves to set the rules instead. As a result, we received an unusually high number of petitions and emergency applications contesting those changes. The petitions here present a clear example… That is not a prescription for confidence. Changing the rules in the middle of the game is bad enough. Such rule changes by officials who may lack authority to do so is even worse. When those changes alter election results, they can severely damage the electoral system on which our self-governance so heavily depends… Because fraud is more prevalent with mail-in ballots, increased use of those ballots raises the likelihood that courts will be asked to adjudicate questions that go to the heart of election confidence… ‘

“Quoting the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist’s concurring opinion from the 2000 case Bush v. Gore, Alito [wrote in his dissenting opinion which was joined by Gorsuch]: ‘Now, the election is over, and there is no reason for refusing to decide the important question that these cases pose. The provisions of the Federal Constitution conferring on state legislatures, not state courts, the authority to make rules governing federal elections would be meaningless if a state court could override the rules adopted by the legislature simply by claiming that a state constitutional provision gave the courts the authority to make whatever rules it thought appropriate for the conduct of a fair election…’

“Thomas concluded his dissent with: ‘One wonders what this Court waits for. We failed to settle this dispute before the election, and thus provide clear rules. Now we again fail to provide clear rules for future elections. The decision to leave election law hidden beneath a shroud of doubt is baffling. By doing nothing, we invite further confusion and erosion of voter confidence. Our fellow citizens deserve better and expect more of us. I respectfully dissent.’”

Why wouldn’t the Supreme Court look into these charges?

Civil War in the GOP… Trump vs. McConnell

Newsmax wrote on February 19:

“Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., will… attempt to ease tensions with Republican leaders…  Graham hopes to be ‘constructive’ in his talks with Trump, who recently met with the second-highest ranking Republican in the House, Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise.

“Trump recently hit out at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for saying that the former president was ‘practically and morally responsible’ for the Capitol riot, saying that the longtime GOP leader is a ‘dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack’… Graham told Fox News after the exchange: ‘President Trump is the most consequential Republican in the party. If Mitch McConnell doesn’t understand that, he’s missing a lot.’”

Daily Mail added on February 19:

“Trump also accused McConnell of ‘destroying’ the GOP and urged the party’s senators to end his leadership…. The former president blamed McConnell… for causing the loss of two GOP Senate seats… ‘The Republican Party can never again be respected or strong with political “leaders” like Sen. Mitch McConnell at its helm,’ Trump began in a letter… ‘McConnell’s dedication to business as usual, status quo policies, together with his lack of political insight, wisdom, skill, and personality, has rapidly driven him from Majority Leader to Minority Leader, and it will only get worse,’ he wrote.

“‘The Democrats and Chuck Schumer play McConnell like a fiddle—they’ve never had it so good—and they want to keep it that way! We know our America First agenda is a winner, not McConnell’s Beltway First agenda or Biden’s America Last… Likewise, McConnell has no credibility on China because of his family’s substantial Chinese business holdings,’ wrote Trump. ‘He does nothing on this tremendous economic and military threat.’”

CNN wrote on February 19:

“Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell vowed never to [meet with Trump]… ‘They’re now at each other’s throat,’ Graham said on Fox News this week. ‘I’m more worried about 2022 than I’ve ever been…’ Trump remains the GOP figure whose words and actions reliably command the most attention. And in his lengthy Tuesday statement blasting McConnell, Trump included a veiled threat to support his own candidates in Republican primaries….”

Trump was invited and agreed to speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Florida. Pence was also invited, but reportedly declined.

Trump 2024 the Republican Presumptive Nominee?

Newsmax reported on February 22:

“Former President Donald Trump plans to use his appearance at the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference as a ‘show of force’ that will send the message that he will be the Republican ‘presumptive 2024 nominee’ for the presidency, according to top Trump allies. ‘Trump effectively is the Republican Party,’ Trump senior adviser Jason Miller told Axios’ Mike Allen for a report Monday that Trump will claim ‘total control’ of the party during his speech this coming Sunday at CPAC…

“Trump will meet with his advisers this week at his Mar-a-Lago estate to map out his next political moves and to set up his plans for kingmaking actions for the 2022 midterm election, including stoking primary challenges for lawmakers who have voted against him. He’s also expected to pour both money and endorsements on his biggest backers… Meanwhile, Save America, Trump’s leadership PAC, has $75 million on hand, as well as a database containing tens of millions of names. However, Axios reports that there are many Trump confidants that think the former president will pretend like he’s running in 2024, but will ultimately pass that by.”

We must wait and see.

Biden Speaks at Munich Security Conference

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 19:

“At the Munich Security Conference, Joe Biden proclaimed the revival of the trans-Atlantic alliance with a forward-looking agenda that puts democratic resilience first. But the US still has much to prove to a wary Europe…

“Joe Biden couldn’t resist repeating his foreign policy mantra (“America is back”) during his debut on the (virtual) international stage of the Munich Security Conference… Biden is well aware that on neither side of the Atlantic are citizens longing for restoration of a… Western order in which the US led, materially as well as morally, and Europe followed.

“Though he made only polite and passing reference to NATO budgetary contributions in his MSC speech, it was clear that he expects his international partners to leverage and buttress US resources, sharing burdens not only on defense spending, but also on health, climate, trade — and, most particularly, in relations with China. Europeans, too, are wary and weary, well aware that in a deeply polarized US, today’s restart could come to a grinding halt four years from now…

“Whether German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her French counterpart Emmanuel Macron will grasp the hand Biden is extending depends on the degree to which the French president, in particular, sees his quest for strategic autonomy as compatible with trans-Atlantic multilateralism, and on whether the European partners are serious about boosting cooperation not only with the US but, first and foremost, amongst themselves…”

Breitbart added on February 19:

“President Joe Biden reassured European leaders Friday that he would once again work with them, apologizing for former President Donald Trump’s approach while in office… ‘The last four years have been hard but Europe and the United States have to lead with competence once more,’ he said. While not naming Trump explicitly in his speech, Biden repeatedly lamented damages to the European relationships with the United States and promised to revert back to the way it used to be…

“Biden specifically promised to work with European leaders including his ‘good friends’ and ‘outstanding leaders’ like German Chancellor Angela Merkel… Biden said he appreciated a ‘whole’ Europe united under the European Union and spoke about their goal to unite against global competitors like Russia and China…”

Focus asked on February 19 why Merkel responded so emotionless and indifferent to Biden, continuing, “Many conflicts between the USA and Germany remain.”

Allies Remain Doubtful

Yahoo News wrote on February 19, thereby republishing an article which had originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times:

“President Biden tried to reassure U.S. allies Friday that he is turning the page on his predecessor’s ‘America first’ approach, and restoring a foreign policy that values cooperation with the world’s major democracies to tackle global challenges. In two virtual appearances before world leaders, his first as president, Biden emphasized that he would be restoring and building upon the Obama administration’s diplomatic achievements, including the 2015 multination nuclear deal with Iran and the 2016 Paris climate accord, and would be seeking to work collaboratively to contain threats from Russia and China… Biden reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to NATO’s Article V, the mutual-defense promise among treaty members…

“The president nonetheless faces a hard job persuading allies, many of whom have emerged from the Trump years nervous about U.S. reliability, said James Townsend, a former deputy assistant secretary of Defense now at the Center for a New American Security, a centrist Washington think tank. ‘The big issue for Biden is trust, in the sense that a lot of allies are still not convinced where our politics are heading,’ Townsend said…

“Allies’ skepticism about U.S. reliability… were evident Thursday in remarks from French President Emmanuel Macron. He renewed his call for European ‘strategic autonomy’ from Washington, diverging from Biden’s support for a return to reliance on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. ‘I am a defender of European sovereignty, of strategic autonomy…’ Macron said in an interview with the Financial Times. ‘Europe cannot delegate its protection and the protection of its neighborhood to the USA.’

“Such splits between Washington and Europe may become even more visible if Biden pushes NATO members to take a more confrontational stance toward Beijing and Moscow. Many European governments favor less confrontational approaches to both countries. Nor will U.S. frustration likely abate at Europe’s go-slow approach to meeting NATO’s goal that each member spend at least 2% of its gross domestic product on its defense. Nine of the 30 NATO members will reach the target this year; three met it in 2014. But Germany and other allies still lag behind.

“In earlier remarks to a separate virtual session of allies in the Group of 7, made up of leaders of major industrialized nations, Biden announced a $4-billion U.S. investment in COVAX, a cooperative global vaccination effort…”

Translation: America will spend $4 billion dollars for global coronavirus vaccination efforts in foreign countries, while the USA is suffering economically at home, without getting a meaningful handle on the pandemic.

Boris Johnson’s Praise for Biden

Breitbart wrote on February 20:

“Prime Minister Boris Johnson declared that ‘America is unreservedly back’ with the election of Joe Biden as President… ‘and that is a fantastic thing.’ In an apparent jab at Donald Trump, Johnson added: ‘The gloom has been overdone…  I’m delighted that America under President Biden’s leadership has rejoined the Paris Agreement’…

“While the relationship between the two leaders was reportedly tense over the issue of Joe Biden’s anti-Brexit attitude, the pair seem to have mended the ‘special relationship’…”

With Boris Johnson, one never knows where his true loyalties lie. But if Trump were to return to power in some way, he wouldn’t forget what he must view as Johnson’s betrayal. The Bible says that the USA will be against Britain, and vice versa, and both will be against Israel.

Macron’s European Army

MSN wrote on February 18:

“Speaking to Express.co.uk, Peter Kofod claimed the French President’s vision for a unified defence corp in the EU could risk Europe its biggest allies within NATO, the US and the UK. The Danish People’s Party’s MEP dismissed the idea as ‘ridiculous’ as he blasted the French leader’s ‘worrying’ ambitions…

“[Macron’s] position was underlined by French Minister for Europe Clement Beaune during an interview with French broadcaster CNews earlier this month. In remarks which have likely raised eyebrows in the new administration of Joe Biden, Mr Beaune appeared to take a swipe at the new US President and question the USA’s commitment to Europe, while highlighting the threat posed by Vladimir Putin’s Russia and Xi Jinping’s China. Mr Beaune said: ‘The Americans want to do less for European defence, the French want to do more for European defence. I think that’s the big European project for the years to come. Our European partners are close to this path.’”

Express wrote on February 19:

“Macron has said that European Union member states need to ‘play a larger role in its own defense’. The French President hit back at suggestions that the EU pushing ahead with its defence plans was ‘incompatible’ with NATO. Mr Macron said that with the US changing its focus to the Pacific-Asia region, ‘we need Europe to deal with our neighbourhood’…

“Speaking to the Munich Security Conference, he said: ‘… I believe that the best possible involvement of Europe within NATO is to be much more in charge of its own security and more in charge of its strategic autonomy… He added that the EU should not be ‘dependent’ on the US for security, adding: ‘The EU and its key member states have to be part of the solution of their own security’ Mr Macron continued: ‘The US has become a Pacific power, which is mainly looking at China and Asia.”

In the past, Macron had stated that a European Army is a must in order to be able to defend against Europe’s enemies, including Russia, China and perhaps even the USA.

Most for a EU Army

Express wrote on February 23:

“An EU army has long been contemplated in the bloc… In a boost to the EU’s plans, two-thirds of those surveyed in a poll from the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) think-tank, were supportive of a European-level defence force… This comes in response to many within the poll claiming they could not rely on Washington as a strategic ally. When asked on their opinion on the EU’s security partnership with the US, just 10 percent viewed the US as a viable partner… 67 percent across all countries believe their own country could not rely on the US….

“The countries polled were Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Great Britain.”

The prophesied establishment of a European Army is moving forward.

Reviving the Iran Deal?

Times of Israel wrote on February 19:

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded on Friday to the United States’ announcement that it was willing to hold talks with Tehran on a return to the nuclear deal, saying Israel believes the old agreement will ‘pave Iran’s path to a nuclear arsenal.’ ‘Israel remains committed to preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons and its position on the nuclear agreement has not changed,’ the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement…

“The Biden administration said Thursday it’s ready to join talks with Iran and world powers to discuss a return to the nuclear deal. It has also reversed the Trump administration’s assertion that all UN sanctions against Iran had been restored. Trump’s move had been ignored by the rest of the Security Council and the world, and the overwhelming majority of members in the 15-nation council had called the action illegal because the US was no longer a member of the nuclear deal. Washington also eased stringent restrictions on the domestic US travel of Iranian diplomats posted to the United Nations.

“The top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, quickly denounced the steps. ‘It is concerning the Biden Administration is already making concessions in an apparent attempt to re-enter the flawed Iran deal,’ he said…”

Newsmax wrote on February 19:

“Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is blasting the Biden administration for saying it is ready to join talks with Iran and world powers to discuss a return to the 2015 nuclear deal… Pompeo told the Free Beacon that European nations ‘wanted to appease the Iranian theocracy for my entire time as secretary of state. We refused. The ayatollah understands only strength. I led a response to the Iranian threat that protected the American people from its terror and supported the Jewish state of Israel.’ And he warned: ‘Adopting the European Union model of accommodation will guarantee Iran a path to a nuclear arsenal.’”

US Democrats vs. Netanyahu

Israel Today wrote on February 19:

“The serious deterioration between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and the Democratic Party really began when Donald J. Trump became President of the United States. The special personal relationship the two leaders developed and the subsequent measures Trump took against the Palestinian Authority was a thorn in the side of many Democrats, including Joe Biden… Judging Biden by his deeds one could doubt his ‘commitment to Israel’s security’… He already canceled most of the measures Trump took against the PA and resumed funding of the Palestinian regime… his administration says it wants the status of Jerusalem settled in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority…

“The Obama years also contributed significantly to a rift in Israel-Democratic relations. Obama is seen in Israel as the most hostile US President in the history of the Jewish state. Netanyahu was under constant pressure from Obama to make concessions to the Palestinians, and at the end of his term, Obama had his UN ambassador vote for an anti-Israeli resolution in the UN Security Council. This had never happened and it caused a lot of bad blood, especially among the right-wing parties in Israel…

“Democratic politicians told Israeli media that they hope Netanyahu will be removed from office after the upcoming Israeli election on March 23… Democratic politicians have little understanding of the political situation in Israel…

“An additional problem is that the ruling American party is slowly being taken over by radical left-wing elements that are fiercely anti-Israel, including former Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders, who is Jewish… Other examples are Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, two Muslim Congresswomen who were banned from entering Israel in August 2019. Both support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel and have made no secret of their hate for the Jewish state.”

Newsmax added on February 18:

“Netanyahu and President Barack Obama had a highly contentious relationship, one that some Israeli experts have called the worst ever between a U.S. president and Israeli prime minister.”

Destroying Al Aqsa to Build the Temple?

Israel 365 wrote on February 24:

“A so-called Israeli affairs ‘expert’ explained to viewers of official PA TV that the ‘true and serious Zionist threat’ is Israel’s ‘plan’ to empty Jerusalem of Christian and Muslim holy sites. Nawaf Al-Zaru went as far as accusing Israel of planning to ‘burn monasteries and churches,’  ‘destroy’ Islamic holy sites, and ‘bomb’ the Al-Aqsa Mosque…

“Hundreds, if not thousands, of similar libelous statements have been made by PA officials… for decades. The PA claims that Israel seeks to ‘Judaize’ Jerusalem and erase all traces of Christianity and Islam in the city. The PA also alleges that the Al-Aqsa Mosque is in danger because Israel is plotting to destroy it to rebuild Solomon’s ‘alleged Temple.’ In accordance, official PA TV teaches its viewers that there is no Jewish history in Jerusalem… ‘This is the city of Allah and of his early promise. Everything in Jerusalem is Arab and Islamic.’ …

“Likewise, Jerusalem District Deputy Governor Abdallah Siyam recently stated that Israel… [is] ‘striving to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and establish the so-called “Temple” in its place.’”

China’s Concentration Camps of Horror

The New York Post wrote on February 20:

“To hear the Chinese Communist Party tell it, the network of concentration camps in China’s far west are ‘vocational schools.’ But former women inmates, largely Uighurs and Kazakhs, tell a different story. They describe the camps as houses of horrors where Chinese camp guards systemically use gang rape and torture to violate their bodies and break their will to resist.

“The new testimony… has aroused worldwide condemnation. It also confirms the State Department’s recent finding that China is committing genocide against its Uighur minority…”

The detailed description of what happens in these camps is too gruesome to repeat here. The lack of condemnation by Western leaders is appalling.

Destroying Biblical Values

LifeSiteNews (which has been permanently banned on YouTube) wrote on February 24:

“Following the announcement that the radical pro-abortion and pro-LGBT Equality Act will be brought before the U.S. House of Representatives… pro-life and pro-family leaders have described the proposed legislation as ‘the most comprehensive assault on Christianity ever written into law.’

“Dr. Bill Donohue, Ph.D., president of the Catholic advocacy group Catholic League, said that, contrary to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s claim that the Equality Act is ‘about ending discrimination,’ … in fact the opposite is true, with Christians set to experience severe discrimination should the act be passed into law… Donohue said that the act’s broad scope would force healthcare providers to supply hormone therapies and even surgeries in accordance with ‘sex change’ procedures. Women’s sports, too, will become unfairly altered by the inclusion of boys and men who purport to be female. ‘These biological males can use the locker rooms, restrooms and shower facilities that have always been reserved for females,’ he added…

“Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins described the Equality Act as ‘a catastrophic loss of religious freedom in America.’

“… Lila Rose, Founder & President of Live Action, described the Equality Act as ‘deceptively named and corrupt in its vision… There is nothing empowering or “equalizing” about killing innocent preborn children nor confusing what it means to be male and female. This deceptively named piece of legislation hides within it policies that override conscience rights, require employers to cover abortions in their healthcare plans, and nullifies pro-life laws and protections on a massive scale…’

“Experts from the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) agree. President Ryan T. Anderson, Ph.D., a specialist in bioethics, religious liberty, and political philosophy, said: ‘The so-called Equality Act is legislative malpractice that turns equality on its head… It isn’t drafted as a shield to protect vulnerable minorities from unjust discrimination, but as a sword to persecute those who do not embrace new sexual and gender ideologies.’”

Are Coronavirus Vaccines Safe?

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on February 23:

“Via a Monday Twitter post, President Joe Biden made an unqualified assertion that the experimental coronavirus vaccines… the United States government is encouraging Americans to take are ‘safe’ for everyone. However, taking a look through the fact sheets for recipients and caregivers regarding the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna experimental coronavirus vaccines, available at the website of the US government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, you find a very different representation.

“These fact sheets warn that there are many known health risks of taking either vaccine and that there are also other potential health risks that remain unknown because the experimental vaccines went through rushed and incomplete testing…

“The first warning sign in the fact sheets for the two experimental vaccines is in the fact sheets’ titles. Both titles refer to the ‘emergency use authorization’ of the vaccines.., it is made clear that the emergency use authorization does not mean the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined the vaccines are safe… the fact sheets explicitly say that some people should not receive the injections: people under a certain age (16 for Pfizer-BioNTech and 18 for Moderna), as well as people who have ‘had a severe allergic reaction after a previous dose of this vaccine’ (both vaccines have a two shot regimen) or ‘had a severe allergic reaction to any ingredient’ of the respective vaccines…

“So, are the experimental coronavirus vaccines safe? The answer is ‘no’ according to the fact sheets provided at the FDA website. There are significant known dangers from taking the vaccines. Also, especially given the rushed and abbreviated testing of the experimental vaccines, there may be numerous unlisted health problems that arise in people who receive the shots.”

The article concludes by saying that a wise “course is for people to consider the potential risks carefully and make their own informed decisions regarding taking the experimental coronavirus vaccines.”

This is true. People should make an informed decision… either way.

Spahn Fighting for Survival?

The Daily Mail wrote on February 24:

“German health minister Jens Spahn is said to be ‘fighting for his career’ after overseeing a shambolic vaccine roll-out, clashing with Angela Merkel and failing to deliver on a promised rapid-testing scheme. Spahn, who only months ago was being feted by those marvelling at Germany’s early success against the pandemic, has seen his approval rating slide five points in a month amid the vaccination chaos and a grinding two-month lockdown.

“Merkel’s decision to postpone a major rapid testing roll-out which Spahn had promised to bring in on March 1 has prompted talk of ‘revenge’ in German media – after the chancellor accused him of trying to shift blame for the vaccine fiasco to Brussels. With Bild [Germany’s mass tabloid] now describing Spahn as a ‘ministerial flop’, the 40-year-old – who was seen as an outside contender in the race to succeed Merkel as chancellor later this year – is said to be ‘frustrated’ and ‘bewildered’ by the setbacks to his career.”

No End to Travel Restrictions… Vaccination Passports?

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 25:

“Leaders from across the 27-nation bloc [of the EU] convened via videoconference on Thursday to thrash out joint approaches to the COVID-19 crisis… Tourist-reliant southern European nations such as Greece and Spain urged the rapid adoption of an EU-wide vaccination certificate for travelers. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz backed the idea in an appearance on the online television channel of Germany’s Bild newspaper. He said it would enable a restart to free travel in Europe and could help ‘secure and protect’ struggling sectors like the arts, sports and gastronomy.

“Manfred Weber, the head of the conservative bloc in the European Parliament, has called for a speedy rollout of a vaccine passport in order to allow freedom of movement in the EU… Other countries, such as France and Germany, have shown more reluctance, with officials saying it would create de facto vaccination obligation and could prove discriminatory…”

CNBC wrote on February 25:

“Given the health crisis, European leaders are not yet inclined to ease travel restrictions… Some heads of state believe it is too early to consider a vaccination passport as the deployment of vaccines is still at such an early phase.

“Rickard Gustafson, CEO of Scandinavian Airlines,… said that it needs to be applied to ‘all other transportation means… because if you cross a border, it doesn’t really matter if you cross it by air, by train, by car, by bus’…” 

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

Trump Acquitted for the Second Time

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 13:

“The United States Senate on Saturday formally cleared former President Donald Trump of inciting an insurrection at the US Capitol last month. Trump was the first former president to face trial after leaving office and the only president to be impeached twice. The US Senate voted 57-43 on the impeachment charge, which means that seven Republican senators voted to convict the former president. A conviction… was seen as highly unlikely as it required a two-thirds majority, and the 100-member Senate is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans.

“DW’s Washington bureau chief Ines Pohl said the vote showed the influence Trump still has. ‘Picture is really clear that former-President Donald Trump has a grip on the Republican Party,’ she said. ‘Donald Trump is far from being done.’

“‘This has been yet another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of our country,’ Trump said in a statement. ‘In the months ahead I have much to share with you, and I look forward to continuing our incredible journey together,’ he added. He signaled towards a possible political future, saying that ‘our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement to Make America Great Again has only just begun.’ ‘We have so much work ahead of us, and soon we will emerge with a vision for a bright, radiant, and limitless American future,’ Trump said…

“… the Senate’s top Republican, Mitch McConnell, said Saturday he would vote against convicting the former president. McConnell said he could not vote to convict Trump because he is ‘constitutionally not eligible for conviction’ after leaving office. In a speech after the vote, McConnell called Trump ‘practically and morally responsible for provoking’ the riot. Even though Trump was acquitted, the end of the trial saw the largest number of senators ever to vote to convict a president of their own party…”

Democrats such as Schumer or Pelosi fume and are beside themselves over Trump’s acquittal, thereby conveniently forgetting their own radical rhetoric arguably inciting violence. A particularly telling comment was uttered by Democratic Manager Eric Swalwell, himself not a stranger to scandals and controversies: “Democrats could have called ‘God herself’ to testify during the impeachment, and Republican senators would not have voted to convict former President Donald Trump” (Breitbart, February 14, 2021). How else than as being appallingly disgusting and blasphemous could such a comment be characterized?

Trump Most Potent Force in GOP

Bloomberg News reported on February 14:

“Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Donald Trump remains the party’s ‘most potent force’ even after his second impeachment, and suggested Minority Leader Mitch McConnell hurt the GOP by blaming the former president for the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol…

“The South Carolina senator’s comments reflect the internal struggle facing the party… Trump’s level of support among the GOP base will help determine his future role in the party. Graham said there’s no question Republicans need to work with Trump to win future elections… ‘We can’t do it without him,’ Graham said…

“Republicans who have crossed Trump… already met pushback from within the GOP. Senators Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Richard Burr of North Carolina were both censured on Saturday by their state parties… In another sign that Trump’s influence could live on, Graham predicted the former president’s daughter in law, Lara Trump, could run for Burr’s Senate seat in 2022…”

Some, even amongst former Trump supporters, such as former U.S. ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, predict that Trump will never again become President. They might end up being surprised. On February 14, Newsmax quoted former U.S. ambassador to Germany, Ric Grenell, as saying:

“I think that President Trump is 100% the leader of the Republican Party. Whether he decides to run or not — he’s told me in the past that he was definitely going to run — I think the reality is that we haven’t had a leader of the Republican Party that has grown Hispanic support, Black support, inner city support, support from women and gays. This is a president who has really put together an incredible coalition. And I think anyone who thinks that he’s just going to go away quietly is dead wrong. He’s going to be the leader of the party and certainly have the decision on who is going to be the nominee in 2024.”

Most Republicans Support Trump Running in 2024

The Guardian wrote on February 16:

“If the 2024 Republican presidential primary were held today, Donald Trump would be the clear favorite to win big. That was the message from a Politico-Morning Consult poll released on Tuesday… Among Republican voters, 59% said they wanted Trump to play a prominent role in their party, up a whopping 18 points from the last such poll, taken in the aftermath of the Capitol riot. A slightly lower number, 54%, said they would back Trump in the primary… Though the 45th president will be 78 by election day 2024, he will be able to run again if he chooses…  [Mike Pence] placed second in the Politico-Morning Consult poll, with 12%…. Donald Trump Jr shared third place, with 6%, with Nikki Haley… Mitt Romney… scored 4% in the new poll. Ted Cruz… scored 3%…

“The battle for the soul of the party is on. On Monday, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell followed an editorial in the Wall Street Journal which said Trump would not win another national election with a column on his own…  McConnell has also made clear that he will oppose pro-Trump candidates seeking Republican nominations in the 2022 midterms, if he thinks they would damage chances of beating a Democrat.”

McConnell’s divisive and self-serving role becomes more and more problematic for him and the GOP.

“Uncertainty Looms”

Politico wrote on February 13:

“What comes next for the 45th president is anybody’s guess. Uncertainty looms over nearly every aspect of the former president’s post-impeachment political future — from the causes he will embrace, to his level of influence inside the GOP, to the possibility he could face criminal charges or see diminished voter appetite for a potential comeback bid in 2024…

“The former president has promised to help the GOP retake the House in the midterm elections next fall but also wants revenge against 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach him in the lower chamber. It is assumed he will reserve similar animus for the seven Senate Republicans who voted for his conviction on Saturday…

“Trump allies are unsure how much success he’ll see…, particularly on the heels of an emotional impeachment trial that may have deeply wounded his reputation… But others argue Trump’s acquittal will only cement his position in the party and send a message that Trump — and Trumpism — is the predominant force in GOP politics…

“Trump has framed his post-presidential legal exposure as remnants of ‘the greatest witch hunt in the history of our Country’ — a phrase he also used to describe the Senate impeachment trial on Saturday. ‘It is a sad commentary on our times that one political party in America is given a free pass to denigrate the rule of law, defame law enforcement, cheer mobs, excuse rioters, and transform justice into a tool of political vengeance, and persecute, blacklist, cancel and suppress all people and viewpoints with whom or which they disagree,’ Trump said.

[According to CNN, Trump also added: “I always have, and always will, be a champion for the unwavering rule of law, the heroes of law enforcement, and the right of Americans to peacefully and honorably debate the issues of the day without malice and without hate.”]

“‘ACQUITTED AT LAST! The biggest political circus of ALL TIME is finally over and we want to send a message that the Republican Party is STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE,’ read a message [by the Republican National Committee on Saturday].

That may seem like wishful thinking now. But perhaps not entirely so…”

Trump cannot be easily ignored.

Trump Calls Fox News, Mourns Limbaugh’s Death and Speaks about Election Fraud

The Sun wrote on February 17:

“DONALD Trump has again claimed that he won the 2020 election and said the nation is ‘angry.’ The 45th president underwent his first interview since leaving the White House on Wednesday afternoon. Trump [called in and] spoke to Fox News to pay tribute to the late Rush Limbaugh [who died on Wednesday at the age of 70 after being diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer last year], however quickly started discussing the 2020 election. ‘Rush felt we won and he was quite angry about it,’ he said. He also doubled down on his opinions on his claims that there was election fraud, dubbing the results as ‘disgraceful.’ Trump said the United States was a ‘third world country on election night,’ saying ‘you don’t know how angry this country is.’

“He added that he still believes that his administration ‘won substantially’… Speaking about Limbaugh just hours after his death was announced, Trump said he was ‘very brave… he was fighting until the very end.’… He said: ‘It was a great honor and an incredible night to give the Medal of Honor to him during the State of The Union address.”

The interview was conducted by Harris Faulkner and Bill Hemmer. As Yahoo!News observed, “neither Harris Faulkner nor Bill Hemmer… pushed back on the former president’s false claims of election fraud.”

However, most Republicans believe that Trump’s claim is accurate. It should be noted that Trump was asked in the interview how Limbaugh felt about the election. In addition, at the end of the interview, Faulkner thanked Trump for calling in and remarked, in effect, that she was glad that Trump was back on Fox, and that Fox would conduct many more interviews with him in the future.

Dangerous Reckless Rhetoric

On February 11, the Ron Paul Institute published the following article by Prof. Jonathan Turley:

“Reckless rhetoric reflects our age of rage… Fired FBI director James Comey has been given to reckless rhetoric… He recently said, ‘The Republican Party needs to be burned down…’ Likewise, Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin declared that ‘We have to collectively, in essence, burn down the Republican Party. We have to level them because if there are survivors, if there are people who weather this storm, they will do it again’…

“Such rhetoric even extends to academics, who historically abhor violence. One professor recently called for more Trump supporters to be killed. Rhode Island Professor Erik Loomis…  said he saw ‘nothing wrong’ with the killing of a conservative protestor’—a view defended by other academics.”

That is terrible, but a sign of our times.

New McCarthyism of the Left

Newsmax wrote on February 14:

“Former Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz on Sunday blasted the ‘new McCarthyism’ of the Democrats’ ‘hard left.’… Dershowitz, a constitutional law expert, said some liberals have become radical censors of free speech.

“‘Common Cause, which purports to be a liberal, not a radical organization, has now demanded that Facebook keep Donald Trump off its platform,’ he said. ‘We are getting liberals… [calling for] Fox News [to be] taken off the networks. I hated communism but I defended the rights of lawyers to defend accused communists.’ ‘If any lawyer is the subject of this kind of McCarthyism, I will represent you pro bono, in front of universities and bar associations,’ he added. ‘I will dedicate myself that the new McCarthyism of the hard left doesn’t become American culture.’”

The attempts to censor free speech are rampant in the US these days.

The Insane Green Energy Politics

Breitbart wrote on February 16:

“Monday, Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson opened his program with a sharp rebuke of so-called green energy policies that have wreaked havoc on the country as an Arctic blast makes its way across the United States. Carlson focused on failures in Texas, where millions suffered power losses in the wake of the colder weather, and said more of that should be expected with the left’s energy policies…

“‘The bad news is, they don’t have electricity. The windmills froze, so the power grid failed. Millions of Texans woke up this morning freezing. There was no heat, no traffic lights, and no cell service. Schools closed, cars crashed. Hospitals canceled surgeries. In Fort Worth, people had to boil their water because with no electricity, it couldn’t be purified. The ironically named Electric Reliability Council of Texas which oversees the grid had no solution to any of this. They simply told people to stop using so much power to keep warm… We’ve seen it happen repeatedly in California for years now. Rolling blackouts in a purportedly first world state that is slipping steadily into chaos. But in Texas?…

“‘There are huge natural gas deposits all over Texas. Texas is an oil and gas state famously… Rather than celebrate and benefit from their state’s vast natural resources, politicians took the fashionable route and became recklessly reliant on so-called alternative energy, meaning windmills… Last year, roughly a quarter of all electricity generated in the state came from wind…

“‘Green Energy inevitably means blackouts… It means failures like the ones we’re seeing now in Texas…’”

Tucker Carlson is right. Note the next article.

A Deep Green Freeze

The Wall Street Journal added the following opinion piece by the Editorial Board, dated February 15:

“Power shortages show the folly of eliminating natural gas—and coal. Gas and power prices have spiked across the central U.S. while Texas regulators ordered rolling blackouts Monday as an Arctic blast has frozen wind turbines. Herein is the paradox of the left’s climate agenda: The less we use fossil fuels, the more we need them.

“A mix of ice and snow swept across the country this weekend as temperatures plunged below zero in the upper Midwest and into the teens in Houston… the power grid is becoming less reliable due to growing reliance on wind and solar, which can’t provide power 24 hours a day, seven days a week… Regulators rationed gas for commercial and industrial uses to ensure fuel for power plants and household heating.

“Texas’s energy emergency could last all week as the weather is forecast to remain frigid… Blame a perfect storm of bad government policies, timing and weather. Coal and nuclear are the most reliable sources of power. But competition from heavily subsidized wind power and inexpensive natural gas, combined with stricter emissions regulation, has caused coal’s share of Texas’s electricity to plunge by more than half in a decade to 18%.”

Because of this self-destructing policy, people have died due to the freezing cold.

More Misery Coming

The Associated Press reported on February 17:

“Utility crews raced Wednesday to restore power to nearly 3.4 million customers around the U.S. who were still without electricity or heat in the aftermath of a deadly winter storm while another blast of ice and snow threatened to sow more chaos. The latest storm front was certain to complicate recovery efforts, especially in states that are unaccustomed to such frigid weather — parts of Texas, Arkansas and the Lower Mississippi Valley… Weather-related outages have been particularly stubborn in Oregon, where some customers have been without power for almost a week…

“Utilities from Minnesota to Texas and Mississippi have implemented rolling blackouts… The worst U.S. power outages by far have been in Texas, where 3 million homes and businesses remained without power as of midday Wednesday… The outages in and around Portland, Oregon, affected nearly 150,000 customers nearly a week after a massive snow and ice storm toppled many trees and took out hundreds of miles of power lines. The damage to the power system was the worst in 40 years… At the peak of the storm, more than 350,000 customers in the Portland area were in the dark… Rolling blackouts were imposed Tuesday in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Southeast Texas…”

Incredibly, the article also says that this terrible winter storm was blamed by scientists on “global WARMING caused by humans.”

USA vs. Israel

The Jerusalem Post wrote on February 14:

“If American planes are not allowed to operate emergency flights to Israel, Israeli planes will not be allowed to land in the US, N12 reported Saturday.

“The Biden administration accused Israel of violating the freedoms of the air and creating a crisis with the new administration following the Israeli border closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, N12 reported. The administration then demanded that planes from the US be allowed to land in Israel…

“The US Department of Transportation complained to the Foreign Ministry and Transportation Ministry that this situation violates the aviation agreement between the countries, which was meant to guarantee equal treatment of Israeli and American airlines.”

The relationship between the USA and Israel will never be the same under Biden as it was under Trump.

“Israel and Biden-Trouble on the Horizon”

Israel Today wrote on February 15:

“Israel has reason to be deeply concerned about the policy that US President Joe Biden’s new administration will pursue vis-à-vis the Jewish state… those concerns are justified and relate to diplomatic measures already taken by the Biden White House…

“… the Trump Administration’s recognition that the Golan Heights is Israeli territory was effectively withdrawn… The Biden Administration has announced that financial aid to the Palestinian Arabs, which Trump canceled, will resume… Biden, furthermore, will allow the Palestinian Authority to reopen the PLO diplomatic mission that Trump closed in Washington DC…

“One important issue viewed by Jerusalem as a threat to Israel is the opinion of certain key figures in the Biden administration regarding Iran. They say the US should return to dialogue with Iran and rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA). More recently, Biden has linked such a move to Iran’s willingness to stop enriching uranium…

“Another reason Israel worries about the policies the Biden Administration will pursue towards the Jewish state and the Middle East are the appointments of a number of ex-Obama officials to key positions. [US Secretary of State Antony] Blinken, for example, is an appeaser when it comes to Iran. He was against including Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the list of recognized terrorist organizations. Blinken was also the one who questioned the legality of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights last week.

“Biden’s Director for National Security, Avril Haines, signed a… letter, [in which] Israel was condemned for ‘violence, terrorism, and incitement.’…  Then there’s Wendy Sherman, the female chief negotiator in the talks with Iran… She was a strong supporter of negotiations with and concessions toward Iran. At the time, she also refused to condemn Palestinian suicide attacks on Israelis.

“The appointment of Robert Malley as Biden’s special envoy to Iran is another problem point. Malley… is a left-wing extremist… [He] wants dialogue with Hamas and Syrian dictator Assad. He is also known for his aversion to Israel.

“Jen Psaki, another former Obama official, is now the White House press secretary. She questioned Israel’s commitment to peace, but remained silent about the Palestinian refusal to return to the negotiating table.

“Another anti-Israel official in the Biden government is Maher Bitar, who is the new head of the US Intelligence and National Security Council…. [He] is a Palestinian American who once wrote in a paper the following: ‘Israel’s political existence as a state is a cause for Palestinian dispossession and statelessness….’

“Another appointment of a Palestinian American to a key position when it comes to Israel is Hady Amr [who] is known for his radical anti-Israeli views and has strong ties to the Palestinian leadership…

“Reema Dodin… serves in the White House… She took part in rallies against Israel calling for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions… In 2002, Dodin said suicide bombings by Palestinian Arabs were ‘the last resort of a desperate people.’”

It really appears as if the relationship between Israel and the USA is to drastically change for the worse.

Biden and Netanyahu “Talk”

Newsmax wrote on February 17:

“President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone Wednesday after a month of silence that raised concerns in Israel about a frostier relationship between the two allies… Israelis had been complaining since Biden’s inauguration in January the new president had not reached out to Netanyahu, concerned the silence could forecast a chillier relationship between the two close allies after former President Donald Trump’s warm embrace… Many Israelis fear Biden, who served as President Barack Obama’s vice president, will revive his approach to the region, both by returning to the Iran deal and by pressing Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians.”

This phone call won’t change anything.

Europe’s New Identity

Middle East Monitor wrote on February 12:

“Despite the long-awaited political change in Washington, with Democratic President Joe Biden now safely in the White House, Europe is unlikely to resume its previously unhindered reliance on its transatlantic partner. The four years of Donald Trump’s term in office were full of tension and difficulties between the US and Europe… However, the strain in the US-EU relationship long preceded Trump’s presidency.

“The former president’s eccentric personal style — and often blunt rhetoric and action — was an indicator to Europe that the continent urgently needed to create its own leadership alternatives to Washington. Following World War Two, the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949 and the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact in 1991, the US became the uncontested leader of the West. Eventually, it was the world’s only superpower. These dynamics are now experiencing an unparalleled state of flux.

“The US commitment to the post-war paradigm was clearly faltering. Consequently, statements from Europe’s political elites in recent years suggest a massive rethink among European governments regarding their definition of the relationship with Washington, an alliance that ran the world for decades. In an unprecedented statement in May 2017, German Chancellor Angela Merkel articulated the massive shift in Europe’s new political outlook when she said, ‘The times in which we could completely depend on others are, to a certain extent, over.’ In that momentous speech in Munich, Germany’s strong leader signalled the beginning of the end of the disproportionate reliance on the US and Britain…

“Britain… is no longer a member of the European Union, and has confronted the bloc with its greatest challenges by rejecting not only the EU’s fiscal, migration and other policies but also the very notion of the ‘European Community’. Coupled with Washington’s global retreat, ‘Brexit’ decisively ended any illusion that a post-WWII political scenario can still be possible. Attesting to this seismic change in the attitude of Europe’s mainstream politicians, were the remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron in November 2018 when he called for a ‘true European army’ to protect the continent from outside threats. ‘We must have a Europe that can defend itself on its own without relying only on the United States,’ he explained…

“Actual data from a large pan-European survey commissioned by the European Council on Foreign Relations confirm Europe’s fundamentally changing attitude towards the US. The survey included more than 15,000 people in 11 EU countries and was held after it became clear that Biden had won the US election. According to the survey, the majority in leading EU countries believe that ‘the US political system is broken’; that ‘China will be more powerful than the US within a decade’; and, finally, that ‘the Europeans cannot rely on the US to defend them’. Particularly interesting, the ECFR-commissioned poll signalled a massive geopolitical shift in Europe’s view towards global alliances, seeing ‘Berlin, rather than Washington, as the most important partner’.

“On the issue of trust, only 27 per cent of those polled believe that ‘Americans can be trusted’ after they voted for Trump in 2016. With Germany currently being Europe’s de facto leader, the views of Germans towards their American counterparts are particularly critical. Hence, the US should really take note that 53 per cent of German respondents have lost trust in a country that was once a close partner. The ECFR chose the eve of Biden’s inauguration to release the findings of the report. This was in itself a message to the new administration to tread very carefully while attempting to repair broken ties on both sides of the Atlantic.

“The ball is no longer in Washington’s court alone. The fact that the majority of Europeans believe in China’s impending global leadership in a matter of a few years means that the EU will have no patience with any US ultimatum to choose between Washington and Beijing…

“The next few years should be enough for Europe to determine its new identity, without Britain and without relying on American guidance and leadership… it will redefine itself, despite the political shift in the US.”

And so, as we have proclaimed for many, many years, Europe will rise to become a mighty hostile superpower, in competition with and challenging the USA and Britain.

Mario Draghi New Prime Minister of Italy

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 13:

“Former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi was sworn in on Saturday as Italy’s new prime minister. The 73-year-old economist, credited by some with having saved the euro, will now be charged with political reform and leading Italy out of devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic… Draghi is expected to oversee spending of more than €200 billion ($242 billion) in European Union recovery funds aimed at relaunching the country’s economy…

“62% of Italians surveyed said they supported Draghi. The pandemic, which hit Italy one year ago, left more than 93,000 people dead and triggered Italy’s deepest recession since World War II. Many Italians hope they can count on Draghi’s banking experience and his years working in the Italian civil service. The government of Draghi’s predecessor Giuseppe Conte, which had assumed office in September 2019, was the 66th in the Italian Republic (since World War II)…”

npr added on February 13:

“A boost for the Italian economy could benefit the whole eurozone. ‘Your experience will be an exceptional asset for Italy and Europe as a whole, especially in these difficult times,’ European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on Twitter.”

Draghi has been nicknamed “Count Draghila” by the German mass tabloid Bild. Italy is predestined to play a major role in end-time prophecies related to Europe.

The Cuomos in Trouble

Fox News wrote on February 13:

“CNN was blasted as ‘an abject disgrace to both the journalism profession and America’ in the wake of an aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo admitting the state withheld COVID-19 nursing home death data after months of glowing coverage from the disgraced network. Gov. Cuomo’s little brother, Chris, hosts ‘Cuomo Prime Time’ on CNN, regularly providing a platform last year for the governor to appeal to viewers by conducting playful on-air conversations masquerading as interviews amid the nursing home scandal…

“The scandal started when Gov. Cuomo infamously ordered nursing homes in the Empire State to accept patients who had, or were suspected of having, COVID-19 in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic… thousands had died from COVID-19 in New York nursing homes before Cuomo reversed course… the scandal… took another turn on Thursday when a top Cuomo aide told leading state Democratic lawmakers that the administration had withheld data on COVID-19 deaths at nursing homes to avoid federal scrutiny…

“The latest revelation prompted condemnations and even talk of impeachment in Albany, the state’s capital… DePauw University professor and media critic Jeffrey McCall echoed the notion that CNN should not have allowed ‘Chris to interview his newsmaker brother about any matter remotely related to actual news’ when Americans wanted answers. ‘There is just no way that Chris can maintain any sense of journalistic distance, especially when reporting about matters of pandemic life and death. All major journalism codes of ethics, including the Radio Television Digital News Association, clearly warn against conflicts of interest. Interviewing a brother for news purposes is exactly such a conflict of interest,’ McCall told Fox News….

“The [New York Post] first reported that Melissa DeRosa, secretary to the governor, told leading Empire State Democrats that the administration feared the data could ‘be used against us’ by the Justice Department during a video conference call… DeRosa’s bombshell admission also fueled fury over an earlier discovery by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who said in late January that an investigation by her office revealed Cuomo’s administration had undercounted the COVID-19 death toll linked to nursing homes by as much as 50 percent. DeRosa has since attempted to walk back the claim, insisting Friday that the governor’s office was “comprehensive and transparent” in responding to records requests from the Trump administration’s Justice Department. The statement did little to quell the anger from Republican lawmakers, some of whom are now calling for a criminal indictment of Cuomo and top staffers for their mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic…”

Apart from the obvious scandals Gov. Cuomo is involved in, it is incomprehensible that CNN would allow Cuomo’s brother to interview and openly support the Governor, given the fact of a blatant conflict of interest. While some are calling for the resignation of Gov. Cuomo, others ask for a revocation of his emergency powers.

Daily Mail reported on February 12:

“A conference is expected to be held discussing rescinding Cuomo’s emergency powers – which granted him the authority to suspend existing statutes or effectively create new laws – a new report states.  Allegedly a growing number of Democrats are joining Republicans’ calls for a revocation, including New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“On Friday, 14 Democratic New York State Senators joined Republicans in calling for Cuomo’s pandemic emergency powers to be rescinded. ‘Without exception, the New York State Constitution calls for the Legislature to govern as a co-equal branch of government,’ they wrote.”

Gov. Cuomo received an International Emmy award “in recognition of his masterful leadership and briefings during the COVID-19 pandemic.” What a joke! Now, the Academy is suspiciously silent on whether they will rescind the award. But rather than taking responsibility and admitting guilt and failure, Gov. Cuomo blamed everybody else but himself in a “press conference” this week, while misrepresenting the facts, as Fox News clearly proved in their broadcast. And President Biden keeps silent… as does Chris Cuomo.

Instagram Bans Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

LifeSiteNews wrote on February 11:

“Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the son of former U.S. attorney general Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former president John F. Kennedy, has been banned from Instagram due to what the social media company called ‘sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines.’… In recent years, Kennedy has become an outspoken critic of harmful vaccines, highlighting the dangers children can be subjected to…

“Kennedy’s Instagram ban came just hours after the Washington Post had reported lobbying Facebook, Instagram’s parent company, to ‘take action’ against Kennedy, after he shared a clip from the ‘Planet Lockdown’ film — a movie that links Big Tech to governmental and societal control, as well as claims that COVID vaccinations were being controlled by global elites. The video has been widely banned by Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube…

“Kennedy’s ban comes shortly after he wrote an extensive report detailing the manner in which Bill Gates had quietly become the largest owner of farmland in the U.S. and warning about the power Gates could exert upon the world and its food supplies…

“Kennedy wrote a strong statement:

“‘Every statement I put on Instagram was sourced from a government database, from peer-reviewed publications and from carefully confirmed news stories. None of my posts were false. Facebook, the pharmaceutical industry and its captive regulators use the term ‘vaccine misinformation’ as a euphemism for any factual assertion that departs from official pronouncements about vaccine health and safety, whether true or not. This kind of censorship is counterproductive if our objective is a safe and effective vaccine supply’…

“‘The pharmaceutical industry is hastily creating vaccines using taxpayer money and untested technologies. These include a rash of risky new products that are exempt from liability, from long-term safety testing and that have not received FDA approval. Emergency Use Authorization is a mass population scientific experiment. If it has any prayer of working, it will require extraordinary scrutiny from the press and the public. Instead, the mainstream media and social media giants are imposing a totalitarian censorship to prevent public health advocates, like myself, from voicing concerns and from engaging in civil informed debate in the public square.

“‘They are punishing, shaming, vilifying, gaslighting and abolishing individuals who report their own vaccine injuries. Anyone can see that this is a formula for catastrophe and a coup d’état against the First Amendment, the foundation stone of American democracy.’”

It was also reported that YouTube has permanently banned LifeSiteNews.

Parler Back Online

Fox Business wrote on February 15:

“After more than a month offline, the social media platform Parler relaunched using a new web hosting service… Parler, which has more than 20 million users and was first launched in August 2018, is currently back online for current users and will be available for new users starting next week, the company said…

“Last month, Amazon… decided to suspend the upstart social media platform for failure to moderate ‘egregious content’ related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot… Apple and Google previously suspended Parler from its app stores…

“Parler’s interim CEO, Mark Meckler, issued a statement following Monday’s development saying, ‘Parler was built to offer a social media platform that protects free speech and values privacy and civil discourse.’ ‘When Parler was taken offline in January by those who desire to silence tens of millions of Americans, our team came together, determined to keep our promise to our highly engaged community that we would return stronger than ever,’ he continued.”

The left-wing media and Big Tech are not interested in free speech if it does not agree with their agenda and ideas. In this context, note the thoughtful comments by the Ron Paul Institute, dated February 17:

 “Gazillionaire globalist Bill Gates has a new book out on how to tackle what he sees as the problem of climate change. One of his guidelines to save the planet? Give up your meat and grab a ‘plant-based’ burger instead. ‘You can get used to the taste difference,’ he said in a recent interview. While such ‘big ideas’ might normally come under some scrutiny in the media, it turns out that Gates has given something like a quarter of a billion dollars to dozens of media outlets. He also funds the ‘fact check’ organizations who play their part getting independent voices silenced.”

This is just INSANE. But more insanity is coming; note the next article.

Insanity Galore… Don’t Say “Breast Milk Anymore”

Fox 8 Evening News reported on February 17:

“There is a new push by some health care professionals to change the term ‘breast milk’ to ‘chest milk.’ In the United Kingdom, one hospital made international headlines for changing the term ‘breast milk’ to ‘human milk.’ It’s an effort to be more inclusive to transgender and non-binary parents.

“Illinois mother Jill Aspinwall… opened her own lactation service… Now she teaches parents how to naturally feed their child. Recently, Aspinwall implemented terminology changes at her practice… She says she started to use the terms chest milk or human milk, instead of the traditional term. She says it’s a way to create a more comfortable atmosphere for transgender parents as well as non-binary parents — who do not identify with any gender…

“Medically, it is possible for transgender men and non-binary people to have a baby. Aspinwall says the term chest milk, human milk, and chest feeding make gender minorities feel more comfortable and open to the process…

“Dr. Cecilia Banga specializes in delivering babies and prenatal care… ‘It’s very important for infants to get milk that comes from humans. Depending on what we want to call it, breast milk, chest milk, human milk. That depends on the patient and what they are comfortable with. It doesn’t change the fact that the milk is coming from humans and that it’s coming from the breast… Breast milk is a huge first step towards a baby developing a strong immune system because it is chock full of multiple nutrients…’”

This is getting SO ridiculous.

Victoria’s New Radical Bill

LifeSiteNews wrote on February 8:

“The Australian state of Victoria has written another radically leftist bill into law after a 12-hour debate in parliament… [It] makes it illegal to try to change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity in Victoria. The bill must now be signed by the Victorian governor-general for royal assent, and will come into effect in 12 months’ time.

“A similar bill was passed in the state of Queensland last year, but the Victorian legislation goes much further in that it prohibits ‘harmful practices’ not only in healthcare settings but also in churches. This includes ‘carrying out a religious practice, including but not limited to, a prayer-based practice, a deliverance practice or an exorcism.’ Transgressors could face fines of up to $200,000 and 10 years in prison…

“… the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney’s Director of Public Affairs Monica Doumit – who is also a lawyer –… detailed a list of examples of who could be penalized under the new law, given the broad and vague definitions in its text:

“A parent whose five year old son was insisting that he was a girl would be prevented from seeking any help – medical, psychological, behavioural, spiritual, social or otherwise – to assist their son in understanding and accepting that he was a boy.  Anything less than affirmation of him as a girl would be prohibited.

“Christian teenagers who had committed themselves to saving sexual activity for marriage would be prohibited from gathering together to support each other to remain faithful to their commitment to chastity.

“Not only would Courage, a ministry for those Catholics experiencing same-sex attraction but who want to live chastely in accordance with their religious beliefs be banned, the teaching of Theology of the Body would not be allowed, and it is even possible that preaching the same verse from Corinthians that got [Australian Rugby star] Israel Folau sacked could get a cleric imprisoned.

“A man who was tempted to cheat on his wife could not go and see his priest or minister, asking for advice on how to stay true to his marriage vows, without risking the priest or minister being punished.  And alarmingly, the laws as currently drafted would even prevent a psychologist from trying to ‘convert’ the attractions of a paedophile…”

It is obvious that it is Satan who is behind these attempts to destroy biblical teachings and practices pertaining to marriage and sexual relationships and identities. Also note the next article.

Black List for LGBT-“Hate” Groups

C-Fam wrote on February 12:

“The UN rights office is collecting the names of anyone who opposes the LGBT agenda in any way. Politicians, religious leaders, and organizations from around the world who defend life and family will likely be put on a blacklist by the UN office for human rights. The drastic new measure may be used to impose sanctions on pro-family advocates and expose them to terrorist attacks…

“In the broadly worded prompt, the UN rights office asks for examples of ‘public expressions or statements by political and/or religious leaders’ who challenge LGBT rights… The UN rights office is especially focused on religions of pro-life and pro-family groups. It asks for any ‘examples where the concept of gender has been used in religious narratives or narratives of tradition, traditional values or protection of the family’ in opposition to new LGBT laws and policies…

“The UN LGBT czar appears to be adopting the approach of the Southern Poverty Law Center, of creating a list of ‘hate groups.’ The hate list of the Southern Poverty Law Center was notoriously used by domestic terrorist Floyd Corkins in an armed attack on the Family Research Council in 2015…

“Democrats introduced a bill in the U.S. Congress to create a similar international blacklist last year, called the Global Respect Act, imposing sanctions on all foreigners who oppose LGBT rights. It is not the first time the UN LGBT expert has attempted to focus on religion. In a 2019 report he called on states to ‘take decisive action’ against religious leaders who oppose LGBT rights.”

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.