The Armenian Genocide Through the Turks

While many countries and leaders have recognized and labeled as genocide the slaughter of Armenians through the Turks, President Obama once again refused to use the term.

On April 23, The Washington Post wrote this:

“As he has for the last six years, President Obama on Thursday marked the day set aside to commemorate the mass killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire without using the word ‘genocide.’… The statement… was again a bow to NATO ally Turkey, which has denied what took place was genocide… Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu [had] said that any use by Obama of the term would have a ‘detrimental effect’ on U.S.-Turkish relations…

“Turkey, the democratic successor to the Ottomans, has long denied what took place during the early days of World War I constituted a genocide. The word was first coined in 1943, at least partly referring to the Armenian tragedy but most commonly associated since then with the Holocaust perpetrated by Nazi Germany…”

The Huffington Post wrote on April 23 about the facts, clearly establishing that Turkish behavior was genocide:

“In 1915, more than 1.5 million Armenians were systematically annihilated by Ottoman-era Turkish authorities. Men, women and children were massacred, deported and condemned to death marches into the Syrian Desert where they died of thirst and starvation. No final rites, no burial — an assault on the dignity of a dignified and proud people. This indisputable tragedy of history has been acknowledged by innumerable scholars and historians, including the International Association of Genocide Scholars, the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity and no less than 53 Nobel Laureates. The European Parliament and Pope Francis recently joined the chorus that honestly labels this horrific chapter of Turkey’s history a genocide.

“Hopelessly infected by the disease of denial, modern-day Turkish authorities have now made it clear they were never going to acknowledge the 100th anniversary of the Genocide with anything approaching candor, honesty or the most minimal degree of self-reflection… In Turkey, anyone who uses the word ‘genocide’ to describe the massacre of the Armenians is subject to criminal punishment under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code…”

Even German President Gauck—after a long time of silence by German politicians, including Chancellor Angela Merkel,—has now, for the first time, publicly used the word genocide.

Deutsche Welle reported on April 24:

“[During an] ecumenical ceremony in Berlin on Thursday evening… German President Joachim Gauck… referred to the massacres as genocide… In the run-up to discussions in the German parliament, the leader of the Central Council of Jews in Germany declared the killings to have been genocide… Turkey has fiercely lobbied to stop countries recognizing the 1915 massacres as genocide… On Thursday, it recalled its ambassador in Vienna over a condemnation of the killings as genocide by Austrian lawmakers…

“Genocide was defined by the UN in 1948 as ‘acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.’ More than 20 countries – France and Russia among them – have so far recognized the Armenian killings as genocide.”

However, Der Spiegel Online added on April 23:

“A total of 22 countries officially define the massacre that took place as such, although Germany, which is home to a large Turkish population, is not one of them… There are only rough estimates of the number of Armenians, Jews, Greeks and Yazidis who converted to Islam in order to prevent death or oppression at the time…

“At the time, Russia was standing in wait at the borders. The Ottomans, led by the Germany military, suspected the Armenians were collaborating with the Russian enemy… The Armenians were expelled. Officially, it was called deportation, but the reality is that the Armenians were sent on death marches into the desert where they starved, were attacked and murdered…”

Now discussions in the German parliament have begun to decide whether or not to refer to the massacre at least “indirectly” as genocide. So, America and Germany seem to be partners again–on the issue of being “careful” for political gain.

On April 24, The Local pointed out the politically-motivated conduct of German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier who insisted on Friday that “calling Armenian massacres genocide risks belittling the Holocaust, after President Joachim Gauck broke a taboo by using the word on Thursday…

“Steinmeier has come in for fierce criticism this week, with one high profile politician comparing him to Germany’s First World War leadership. Both Gauck and Bundestag (German parliament) president Norbert Lammert condemned the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman forces a century ago as a ‘genocide’, the first time Germany has officially used the term… Germany also has a three-million-strong ethnic Turkish population deriving from a massive ‘guest worker’ programme in the 1960s and 1970s…”

Sadly, Israel does not fare any better.

The Washington Post wrote on April 24:

“…Israel and the United States… don’t recognize what happened a century ago as a ‘genocide.’ The reason for this skittishness is nationalist politics… For decades, the stubborn Turkish position compelled the United States, a staunch ally, to avoid ruffling Ankara’s feathers. The same was true for Israel, which, ironically until Erdogan’s rise, had close political and military ties to Turkey…

“Israel has  a conspicuously close relationship to Azerbaijan, a Muslim-majority state that, like Armenia, emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Israel  imports 40 percent of its oil from Azerbaijan and exports a considerable supply of weapons and defense systems to Baku. Armenia and Azerbaijan do not get along, and still feud over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, a largely Armenian enclave inside Azerbaijan that the two countries battled over shortly after winning independence in 1991.

“Last week, after the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on Turkey to recognize the Armenian genocide, Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry spokesman said it was an example of European double-standards — since Armenia has yet to atone for its alleged role in deadly massacres in the 1990s. There are multiple, complicated layers of history here, but Israel knows what’s clearly in its interest. Azerbaijan, petro-rich and perched on Iran’s border, is a useful friend — at least more so than tiny, land-locked Armenia…”

But Israel will become bitterly disappointed about Turkey, when that country will collaborate with Europe against Israel. So, it’s all about politics and personal advantages. What a crying shame!!!!

Turkey Will Not Forgive!

Newsmax reported on April 24:

“Turkey on Friday condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin for referring to genocide during commemorations of the 1915 mass killings of Armenians during World War I. The Turkish foreign ministry said that ‘we reject and condemn . . . [Putin’s] characterization of 1915 events as genocide despite all our warnings and calls.’ …  The foreign ministry also condemned French President Francois Hollande, who attended the ceremony in the Armenian capital Yerevan. ‘Turkey rejects and condemns France’s unfair and biased approach,’ it said…

“In a separate statement, the Turkish foreign ministry lashed out against ‘unfounded accusations’ directed by German President Joachim Gauck, who characterized the 1915 killings as genocide and acknowledged that Germany bore partial blame for the bloodletting… ‘Turkish people will not forget or forgive German President Gauck’s statements,’ it added.

“Earlier this month, Pope Francis drew Turkey’s wrath after describing the 1915 killings as ‘the first genocide of the 20th century.’ Turkey summoned the Vatican ambassador in Ankara over the remarks and recalled the Turkish envoy to the Holy See…

“President Barack Obama on Thursday described the killings as ‘terrible carnage’ but avoided the term ‘genocide.’…  Ankara also criticized Obama’s statement, which it said reflected a ‘unilateral point of view,’ and added, ‘We reject the discriminating and biased understanding of justice.’…”

America’s Descent into the Abyss of Sexual Perversion

CNN wrote on April 23:

“It’s only April, but 2015 may be remembered as the year the term ‘transgender’ fully entered mainstream consciousness. In January, President Obama condemned the persecution of ‘people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender,’ becoming the first president to utter the word in a State of the Union address…

“Transgender is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity — their internal, personal sense of being a man or a woman — differs from what’s typically associated with their sex at birth. Some transgender people alter their bodies through hormones and or surgery, although many don’t…

“Now, between ‘Transparent’ and other shows, recognition from Obama and tabloid headlines about Jenner, the national conversation around gender identity appears to have reached a new level… For relatives and friends who are used to seeing someone as male or female, gender changes can be hard to accept. Transgender people have long been misunderstood and persecuted — as recently as 2012, the American Psychiatric Association classified them as having a mental ‘disorder.’…

“In December, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that transgender people will receive federal protection from discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964…”

Judaism is not behaving any better, as the next article shows.

Abominable Jewish Twisting of the Bible

The Time of Israel, dated April 24, wrote the following:

“For Judaism, all this talk of transgender is old hat.

“In rabbinic literature, Judaism has held an ongoing 2,000-year conversation on the subject of gender, and terminology for the transgendered appears hundreds of times in the Midrash, Mishnah and Talmud. Even the biblical creation of the world could be interpreted through a transgender lens…

“In the midrash Bereshit Rabba, a biblical expositive text on the book of Genesis redacted around the 5th century CE, Rabbi Yirmiya Ben Lazar said that at the time God created the first man, He created him ‘androgynous.’ As stated in Genesis 1:27, ‘God created him in His image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.’

“The midrash continues that according to Rabbi Shmuel Bar Nachman, when God created the first man, ‘He created him with two faces and sawed them apart, and made them with two backs here, and two backs there.’

“Most streams of progressive Judaism accept and welcome the transgender community with open arms. There are a growing number of transgender rabbis who are spearheading the creation of new and innovative rituals, or the changing of existing liturgy to reflect more inclusive language.

“But the question of halacha vis-a-vis the Orthodox transgender community is much more complicated, and often fraught with emotional turmoil… for many, if not most, in the transgender community, surgery and cross-gender hormones are an integral part of their transition. These steps… present serious halachic problems, including ‘the prohibition of sirus — castration/sterilization, which is a Biblical prohibition for men (Leviticus 22:24) and at least a Rabbinic prohibition for women (Even HaEzer 5:11). Authorities understand the forbidding of cross-dressing (Deuteronomy 22:5) as including any procedure (including hormonal treatments) that leads to the appearance of another gender. Bodily mutilation is one of the other difficult issues…”

Let us be clear. According to the Bible, God created first a man, Adam, and then He created a female, Eve, out of the rib of the man. Eve was to be a helper to the man. By no stretch of the imagination can one twist the Scriptures to say that God created the human being as a transgender. In addition, the very concept of “transgender” is an abomination in the eyes of God.

American Jews and Buddhists Overwhelmingly in Favor of Same-Sex Marriages

JTA wrote on April 22:

“Jews are overwhelmingly supportive of same-sex marriage, according to a new survey by the Public Religion Research Institute… 47 percent said they strongly favor allowing same-sex couples to marry legally and 30 percent said they favor it. Nine percent of respondents said they oppose gay marriage, and the same percentage said they strongly oppose it…

“After Buddhists, Jews were more likely than any other religious group to support gay marriage. Among the survey respondents, 84 percent of Buddhists favored gay marriage, followed by Jews and the religiously unaffiliated, 77 percent; mainline Protestants (Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Unitarians), 62 percent; and Catholics, 61 percent.

“Those opposed to gay marriage outnumbered supporters among Jehovah’s Witnesses, with 75 percent opposed; Mormons, 68 percent; and white evangelicals, 66 percent.

“Overall, support for same-sex marriage rose sharply from 2003, when Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to legalize gay marriage. Then, less than one-third of Americans supported gay marriage and 59 percent opposed. By early 2014, 53 percent supported gay marriage and 41 percent were opposed…

“Politically, gay marriage had support levels in 2014 of 64 percent among Democrats, 57 percent among independents and 34 percent among Republicans. The 2014 survey also showed a significant age gap, with 69 percent of millennials supporting gay marriage compared to 37 percent of those age 68 and older.”

This shows that many Buddhists, Jews, mainline Protestants and Catholics, especially the younger generation, have been drifting away more and more from godly standards, as revealed in the Bible.

The Change in Politicians on Same-Sex Marriages to GET More Votes

The New York Times wrote on April 26:

“Rick Santorum said he would never attend a same-sex wedding. Marco Rubio said he might attend one. Scott Walker actually went to a same-sex wedding reception… Ted Cruz said he is firmly opposed to gay marriage, but would be comfortable if his daughter were gay.

“Republican presidential candidates are struggling to adjust to a rapidly changing legal, political and cultural landscape this primary season…  Once a winning primary issue as well as a powerful wedge issue wielded against Democrats, opposing same-sex marriage has grown far more complicated for Republicans… it looms as a liability with general election voters, particularly independent ones, who are more supportive of same-sex marriage than more conservative Republicans…”

Of course, Hillary Clinton stated as late as 2004 that “heterosexual marriage is a fundamental bedrock principle of civilization.” Now she “evolved” into endorsing same-sex marriages (SSM).

Stupid Same-Sex Couple Decision by Oregon Judiciary

Breitbart wrote on April 26:

“An Oregon judge has awarded Lesbian couple Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer $135,000 for ‘emotional damages’ in a lawsuit against Aaron and Melissa Klein of Sweet Cakes Bakery. They are a Christian couple who declined to provide a wedding cake to the same-sex couple in 2013. In their lawsuit, the two women claimed they felt ‘mentally raped’ as part of a list of 88 symptoms of emotional distress they experienced at being refused a cake.

“The long list of symptoms included ‘acute loss of confidence, doubt, excessive sleep, felt mentally raped, dirty and shameful, high blood pressure, impaired digestion, loss of appetite, migraine headaches, pale and sick at home after work, resumption of smoking habit, shock, stunned, surprise, uncertainty, weight gain and worry’…

“The award will reportedly bankrupt the seven-member Klein family and force Sweet Cakes by Melissa Bakery to shut down. The Kleins’ lawyer, Anna Harmon, said that the damages awarded were not limited to the sale of business assets, but would be taken out of their personal funds. The important thing to realize is this,’ Harmon said, ‘This is real money that Aaron and Melissa are going to have to pay that otherwise would be used to pay their mortgage and feed their kids.’…

‘This past February, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) announced that the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa bakery must pay the lesbian couple damages for refusing to sell them a wedding cake. BOLI spokesman Charlie Burr said there was sufficient evidence that the bakers discriminated against the same-sex couple.

“A GoFundMe crowdfunding page in support of the bakery had been set up, but was deleted after the judge’s ruling Friday, since GoFundMe’s terms of service do not allow fundraising for people found in violation of the law.”

We really DO need some “no-nonsense judges” in this country. What an atrocity in the “religious” land of the “brave and the free,” purporting to guarantee free speech and freedom of religion, while suppressing and punishing religious convictions, which are based on the Bible (!). No wonder God is ANGRY with the USA, calling it an “ungodly nation” (Isaiah 10:6).

Christians Pledge Civil Disobedience in Same-Sex Marriage Cases

Fox News wrote on April 28:

“‘We will not obey.’ That’s the blunt warning a group of prominent religious leaders is sending to the Supreme Court of the United States as they consider same-sex marriage. ‘We respectfully warn the Supreme Court not to cross that line,’ read a document titled, Pledge in Solidarity to Defend Marriage. ‘We stand united together in defense of marriage. Make no mistake about our resolve.’…

“The signees are a who’s who of religious leaders including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, National Religious Broadcasters president Jerry Johnson, Pastor John Hagee, and Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association… And that means the possibility of Christians – people of faith – engaging in acts of civil disobedience.”

US Economy Not That Good!

Bloomberg wrote on April 29:

“The world’s largest economy sputtered to a near-halt in the first quarter, choked by a slump in U.S. business investment and exports that dimmed hopes for a meaningful short-term rebound. Gross domestic product rose at a 0.2 percent annualized rate after advancing 2.2 percent the prior quarter…

“The figures come as Federal Reserve policy makers meet, and the weaker-than-forecast reading signals officials will be in no rush to raise interest rates. While the economy is likely to bounce back from the temporary restraints of harsh winter weather and delays at West Coast ports, the harm caused by the plunge in fuel prices and stronger dollar will probably prove longer-lasting… Stocks fell as investors awaited the Fed’s statement. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index declined 0.6 percent to 2,102.14 at 12:12 p.m. in New York.”

Anger in Baltimore and Elsewhere

Newsmax and AFP wrote on April 29:

“Thousands of young protesters marched through downtown Baltimore and demonstrated in New York on Wednesday demanding justice for an African-American man who died of severe spinal injuries sustained in police custody. In contrast to Monday, when violence erupted and stores were looted, the rally that started at Baltimore’s main train station was good-natured and included black and white demonstrators…

“The 2,000 National Guard personnel who have flooded the city this week kept a low profile, although authorities have said they are primed to swoop should the march spark unrest like that which flared following the funeral of Freddie Gray, 25, on Monday. His death was the latest instance in the United States of a black man succumbing at the hands of police — a situation that has stirred resentment among African Americans who believe they are the victims of police brutality.

“That anger sparked coast-to-coast demonstrations in major US cities after a white policeman shot dead an unarmed black teenager in the St Louis suburb of Ferguson in August. Baltimore authorities urged calm and warned that they would again enforce a citywide curfew beginning at 10:00 pm (0200 GMT Thursday) and lasting until 5:00 am. Tuesday night’s curfew was largely respected…

“Amid the violence on Monday, the Baltimore Orioles postponed two Major League Baseball games against the Chicago White Sox and opted to bar fans from Wednesday’s contest at Camden Yards. The 8-2 victory for the home team was played before empty stands.

“Among the many startling images to emerge from the riots in the city was that of an infuriated mother hitting her teenage son repeatedly for joining the demonstrations on Monday and dragging him away.”

The mother was hailed as a hero and a shining example on numerous left-liberal and conservative TV stations, calling her conduct appropriate “tough love.” It appears that for the time being, Child Protection Services wisely decided not to raise their voice to condemn spanking and physical punishment of children…

No Public Transportation on the Sabbath?

The New York Times wrote on April 25:

“Israelis frustrated with the lack of public buses on the Jewish Sabbath and holidays hijacked the Facebook page of the transportation minister during Passover… The minister, Yisrael Katz, derisively dismissed the ride-seekers as leftist sore losers after conservatives’ success in elections last month…

“As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tries to stitch together a new governing coalition that is expected to be made up of rightist and religious parties, a continuing struggle over Israeli identity is in the balance. The debate over transportation is part of a larger one over a so-called nationality bill that seeks to redefine the relationship between Israeli democracy and Jewish character, which was among the divisive issues that helped collapse Mr. Netanyahu’s previous coalition last fall.

“Controversy over public transportation predates Israel’s establishment in 1948 — Tel Aviv once banned horse-drawn carriages from its main street on Saturdays — but recent efforts to change the status quo, in which buses are idle in all but a few places, have met stiff opposition…

“Orthodox Jews do not use motor vehicles on the Sabbath and holidays because of prohibitions on igniting fuel, creating sparks and traveling beyond certain distances… adherents to these strictures make up perhaps a fifth of Israel’s population…

“Experts on religion and state say that Israeli politicians have for decades traded control over public transportation on Shabbat — along with marriage, conversion and rules at religious sites — to the Orthodox in exchange for their support on foreign policy. While allowing transportation services could actually reduce the number of drivers violating Orthodox rules, analysts said such specifics were less important than the symbolism…”

As we pointed out in our last Update, when discussing ridiculous Jewish Sabbath restrictions, this article serves as another example of Pharisaical unbiblical rules which are clearly condemned in Scripture. As at the time of Christ, orthodox Judaism has made a burden out of the Sabbath, which was created by God to be a joy for man. But without the lead of God’s Holy Spirit, man cannot and will not understand the intent of God’s Law, including the Sabbath law.

USA Will Continue Controversial Drone Strikes in Spite of Killing Innocent People

The Daily Beast wrote on April 24:

“The accidental slaying of a pair of Westerners won’t end—or even significantly change—the American unmanned air campaign that has been responsible for thousands of deaths. The United States’ controversial campaign of drone strikes will continue despite the accidental killing of a pair of Western hostages, four U.S. officials told The Daily Beast. These sources said they don’t expect the rules governing the strikes to change significantly.

“Defense officials told The Daily Beast there was no immediate discussion to suspend their drone program, including the use of ‘signature strikes,’ which target people based on patterns of behavior, even if their identity is unclear. American contractor Warren Weinstein and Italian hostage Giovanni Lo Porto were killed in one such signature strike in January.

“Officials said that the military conducts far fewer signature strikes than the CIA, which attacked the compound in Pakistan where the two men were being held. But while acknowledging that Weinstein and Lo Porto’s deaths were tragic, defense officials described them as unavoidable. ‘It’s a war. Tragedies unfortunately happen,’ one U.S. official said…

“‘They clearly have no idea, literally no idea, of who it is that they’re killing,’ Chris Anders, the senior legislative council at the American Civil Liberties Union, told The Daily Beast. ‘And there are thousands of people who have been killed through the drone program.’ Anders noted that the administration has acknowledged eight American citizens have been killed in drone strikes, but that only one of them was knowingly targeted…

“Elaine Weinstein, the widow of Warren Weinstein, criticized U.S. intelligence agencies in a statement Thursday for what she called ‘inconsistent and disappointing’ assistance during the years her husband was held by Al Qaeda. ‘We hope that my husband’s death and the others who have faced similar tragedies in recent months will finally prompt the U.S. Government to take its responsibilities seriously and establish a coordinated and consistent approach to supporting hostages and their families.’…

“The U.S. government’s hostage rescue policy has been notoriously disjointed, with agencies withholding information from one another…”

Newsmax added on April 27:

“President Barack Obama has gotten support with the drone strike deaths of two hostages from a very unlikely source — Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. ‘I tend not to want to blame the president for the loss of life here,’ the Republican lawmaker and 2016 presidential candidate told Fox News. ‘I think he was trying to do the right thing.’… Paul’s statement seems a dramatic reversal of his attitude on drones. His past opposition to drone warfare has been well known…

“In 2013, Paul had conducted a 13-hour filibuster against CIA Director John Brennan over U.S. drone policy… Earlier this year, Paul told CNN that if a drone flies over his house, ‘They better beware, because I’ve got a shotgun’…

“However, Paul told Fox News, ‘So these people were in a war zone and probably got what was coming to them — the captors. Unfortunately, some innocent people lost their life.’”

These political maneuverings just to GET votes are so despicable. But Paul’s “dramatic reversal” might back-fire on him. War is SO wrong, and the practice of using drones to kill innocent people must be strongly condemned. There is NO excuse for such conduct.

2010 Al-Qaida Plot to Attack the Vatican

Newsmax and Reuters reported on April 24:

“The arrests of 10 people in Italy Friday linked to an al-Qaida plot to attack the Vatican and other cities represented a widening of the battle Islamic jihadists are waging against Christians around the world, terrorism experts said. ‘What disturbs me is the target, the Vatican,’ intelligence analyst Bob Baer told CNN. ‘We’re seeing a radicalization of Islam that I haven’t seen before. The Vatican is not a participant in any of the wars in the Middle East. There’s no justification that we can understand why they’re at war with the Vatican.’

“Noting the recent beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians by Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists in Libya, Baer told Wolf Blitzer, ‘things seem to be getting worse rather than better’…  the Vatican attack was planned for March 2010 as part of ‘a big jihad in Italy,’ said Mario Carta, head of the police unit on the case. Pope Benedict XVI was serving at the time. He was succeeded in March 2013 by Pope Francis. ‘We don’t have proof, we have strong suspicion,’ that Pope Benedict was a possible target, Carta said…

“Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said that the issue was in the past and that Friday’s disclosures were not a matter for concern. However, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said: ‘We are all afraid because we don’t know what can happen.’”

The Miracle of Fatima—A Huge Fraud

On April 27, Zenit reported the following:

“Pope Francis is expected to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Fatima (Portugal) in 2017 on the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary… On May 13th, 1917, three shepherd children: Lucia dos Santos, Jacinta Marto and Francisco Marto were visited by the Blessed Virgin Mary. After several months, almost 30,000 people witnessed ‘The Miracle of the Sun’, a phenomenon in which the sun spun and changed colors. The sign was promised by the Virgin Mary so that the faithful would believe. St. John Paul II credited the Blessed Mother with saving his life from an assassin’s bullet on May 13th, 1981. He later placed the bullet in the crown of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima.”

IF the three children actually witnessed something, it was clearly NOT the “Virgin Mary,” as Mary, the mother of Jesus, is dead and awaiting the resurrection from the dead with all the other faithful servants of God who likewise died over the centuries and Millennia (Hebrews 11:13). Jesus is the ONLY one who has been raised from the dead to glory and immortality (1 Corinthians 15:22-24). The “apparition” and subsequent phenomenon of the “miracle of the sun,” if true, would have to be ascribed to demonic activities.

“Eurozone Slams Door on Greek Hopes”

The EuObserver wrote on April 24:

“Greece is no closer to agreeing a new deal with its eurozone creditors after the latest round of talks broke up acrimoniously, with one fellow minister describing the meeting as a ‘complete communication breakdown’… Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis was on the receiving end of heavy criticism at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Riga. The meeting broke up on Friday lunchtime… without agreement on an economic reform package that would allow the remaining €7.2 billion of Greece’s bailout programme to be paid out…”

The Telegraph added on April 24:

“Time is running out for Greece, officials have warned at a crucial eurozone meeting in which finance minister Yanis Varoufakis was heavily criticised for stalling over urgent measures needed to release vital financial aid… Greece’s current €240bn programme expires at the end of June. Before then, the Greek government is trying to unlock the remaining €7.2bn to prevent the country from bankruptcy. Watchers had long given up hope of a deal being struck at today’s finance ministers’ meeting in Riga…

“Germany, the chief funder of eurozone bailouts, has taken a hard-line approach to Greece’s financial woes this year and officials have repeatedly expressed concern that Greece isn’t doing enough to meet its bail-out requirements… As the stalemate risks running into another month, the risk of a Greek default rises along with an exit from the single currency.”

The Financial Times wrote on April 24:

“Months of mounting tensions between Greece and its creditors boiled over at a high-level EU meeting on Friday with eurozone finance ministers angrily accusing their Greek counterpart of backtracking on commitments and failing to grasp the deep differences that still divide them…

“The contentious session undermined claims by Greek officials that a Thursday meeting in Brussels between Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, and Angela Merkel, his German counterpart, had narrowed the differences. The claims briefly sent the euro rallying in morning trading, but those gains evaporated after news of the differences emerged…”

Deutsche Welle wrote on April 27:

“Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras may be ready to compromise with the EU and introduce reforms… Tsipras was finally ready to negotiate after he spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem in separate phone calls on Sunday. He then met Finance Minister Yannis Varoufakis, causing the media in Greek to speculate that Varoufakis would be slowly removed from the position of chief negotiator in Greece’s talks with its creditors… ‘They want his head,’ said a headline in the Greek daily Ta Nea…

“Experts say that Prime Minister Tsipras will need to make tough choices, like cutting pensions and reducing public spending to convince his financers. If he does not agree, the country could default on its payments, but if he agrees to the reforms, he could face opposition from radical leaders in his own Syriza party. The toughest challenge for Tsipras would be to get support from the parliament on implementing pension cuts. However, advisors say Tsipras should decide on spending cuts through a referendum to solve the problem.”

Der Spiegel Online added on April 27:

“… new Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos categorically rules out his country exiting the euro zone and supports calls for German reparations payments in connection with Nazi war crimes… Although Greece is under tremendous financial stress, with the government now forcing hospitals, universities and public agencies to hand over their savings to the central bank, Pavlopoulos stated that his country would fulfill all of its obligations…

“After last week’s meeting of the Euro Group once again failed to deliver an agreement, most EU politicians do not share this view…

“Pavlopoulos clearly denied threats from other Greek politicians to confiscate property in Greece owned by the German state… The Greek president said the seizure of German property was not a consideration…”

New Scandal in Merkel’s Government… NSA Snooping and German Hypocrisy

The Local wrote on April 27:

“Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office has known since 2008 of US economic espionage targeting European companies… but did not react, Bild said Monday, citing intelligence agency documents… The report is potentially embarrassing for the German government, which has always portrayed itself as a victim of spying by its allies, notably the United States.

“Germany reacted with outrage at revelations in 2013 by fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden that the NSA was conducting massive Internet and phone data sweeps, including in Germany. The revelations, which included claims the NSA tapped Merkel’s mobile phone, strained ties between Washington and Berlin.

“The documents cited by Bild refer to NSA attempts to keep tabs on telephone numbers and email addresses at EADS, the aerospace and defence group now known as Airbus and Eurocopter, which now goes by the name of Airbus Helicopters…

“‘It was definitely known for years in the chancellery that the NSA tried, with German help, to monitor German companies,’ Bild quoted an unidentified source from the Bundestag (German parliament) NSA inquiry committee as saying. ‘It is unlikely and would be highly unusual if the head of the chancellery would not have been informed about such an occurrence,’ the source added…

“German news weekly Spiegel reported last week that the NSA spied on European companies for years with the help of German intelligence. The American agency is believed to have provided the BND with mail addresses and mobile phone numbers which were then monitored by the Germans on behalf of the United States, Spiegel Online reported.”

The Local wrote on April 29:

“The government has been accused of lying to the Bundestag (German parliament) after it emerged last week that Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office knew German spies were conducting economic espionage on behalf of the Americans. ‘We have no knowledge of alleged economic espionage by the NSA or other US agencies in other countries,’ the Interior Ministry wrote to the Bundestag on April 14th in response to a question from the opposition Linke (Left Party). Statements of this kind are signed off by the whole government.

“But it emerged last week that Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) had been spying on German and European companies on behalf of the NSA. Further, officials at the Chancellery, which is responsible for overseeing the BND, knew about the economic espionage and did nothing.

“The Chancellery knew as early as 2010 that the NSA had asked the BND to target firms including arms companies EADS and Eurocopter, both since merged into Airbus.The NSA provided the BND with email addresses , phone numbers and other ‘selectors’ (identifying information) belonging to the company’s employees and asked the Germans to monitor their communications. A press release from the government last week said that the Chancellery was ‘now checking whether parliamentary answers in this case remain totally valid’…

“Linke MP Jan Korte told Der Spiegel on Wednesday that ‘the parliamentary answer from April 14th is very clearly a lie’. He wouldn’t believe ‘one more word’ from the government relating to spying, he said.

“The latest twist in the scandal puts Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière under pressure, as he was head of the Chancellery from 2005-09 and ultimately responsible for supervising the spies. Mass-circulation tabloid Bild singled de Maizière out for a broadside on Wednesday, saying that he was ‘lying in black and white’ [the German said: “Sie luegen wie gedruckt,” a very strong accusation] and illustrating the story with a picture of the minister with Pinnochio’s long nose…”

Deutsche Welle reported on April 29:

“De Maiziere… said on Wednesday the accusations were ‘untrue’ and could be disproved by documents, which needed to remain secret…

“Opposition Greens parliamentary co-leader Anton Hofreiter told the newspaper Rheinische Post: ‘Either the BND under Chancellor Merkel has gotten fully out of control or the government has lied to the public’… The opposition Pirate party leader in the North Rhine-Westphalia state assembly in Düsseldorf, Joachim Paul, said on Wednesday his party would ask Germany’s federal prosecutions office to press charges against Chancellery and BND officials. If there was suspicion of NSA economic espionage and the Chancellery was informed of this, then it would amount to treason, Paul said.”

The Local added on April 30:

“German intelligence services spied on top French officials and the European Commission on behalf of the American spy agency NSA, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung… A spokeswoman for the German federal government refused to comment when contacted by The Local on Thursday, saying only that it would answer to the parliamentary committees responsible for overseeing the spies in due course…

“Thursday’s revelations are likely to be the most damaging on a diplomatic level, in so far as they affect relations with one of the Federal Republic’s most vital allies.”

That the German government and highly controversial Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière would deny the accusations surprises no one. That the tiny opposition of the Left, the Greens and the Pirate Party will have any substantial  influence in the matter is doubtful—rather, it is to be expected that criminal charges, if they were to be filed, would be immediately dismissed. But it remains to be seen how the German press is going to act and react, since left-liberal and conservative papers alike have begun to smell blood.

Hungary’s Maverick Leader

The Guardian wrote on April 29:

“Hungary’s nationalist rightwing leader, Viktor Orbán, has threatened to reintroduce the death penalty, outlawed in the European Union.

“The prime minister also reinforced his reputation as the EU’s main maverick with a powerful anti-immigration manifesto that equates migrants with terrorists, says immigrants are taking Hungarians’ jobs, recommends internment camps for illegal immigrants and states they should be forced to work.

“[Orban is a] persistent critic of the EU, who holds up Russia’s president Vladimir Putin as a model leader…”

But things will change in Hungary, insofar as the relationship with Russia is concerned, as it is very possible that Hungary will become part of the final ten core nations or groups of nations, leading Europe.

TWO Magma Chambers Underneath the Giant Volcano of Yellowstone National Park

Science wrote on April 23:

“Underneath the bubbling geysers and hot springs of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming sits a volcanic hot spot that has driven some of the largest eruptions on Earth. Geoscientists have now completely imaged the subterranean plumbing system and have found not just one, but two magma chambers underneath the giant volcano…

“Scientists had already known about a plume, which brings molten rock up from deep in the mantle to a region about 60 kilometers below the surface. And they had also imaged a shallow magma chamber about 10 kilometers below the surface, containing about 10,000 cubic kilometers of molten material. But now they have found a deeper one, 4.5 times larger, that sits between 20 and 50 kilometers below the surface… the deeper chamber does mean that the shallow chamber can be replenished again and again…”

Bild Online added that this new discovery is a time bomb for a natural catastrophe with unimaginable consequences for the entire globe. An eruption would be 1,000 times stronger than the one at Mount St. Helen in 1980.

Huge Earthquake Kills Thousands of People

The Huffington Post reported on April 25:

“A devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal on Saturday killed more than 1,800 people, caused a deadly avalanche on Mount Everest and left a wake of destruction across the broader region… The earthquake [was] the worst to hit Nepal in over 80 years…

“Powerful tremors also rocked neighboring countries, killing 34 in northern India, six in Tibet and two in Bangladesh, as well as two Chinese citizens on the Nepal-China border…

“Nepalese authorities struggled to assess the full scale of the damage across the remote Himalayan nation, with communications systems down in many areas. ‘We are totally cut off from most parts of our country,’ Nepal Disaster Management Authority official Ram Narayan Pandey told Reuters. Many feared the worst. ‘Almost the entire country has been hit,’ Krishna Prasad Dhakal, the deputy chief of mission at Nepal’s Embassy in New Delhi, warned.”

Following powerful aftershocks, The Associated Press wrote on April 27: “The official overall death toll soared past 4,000, even without a full accounting from vulnerable mountain villages that rescue workers were still struggling to reach two days after the disaster.”

Deutsche Welle reported on April 28: “The United Nations has said the earthquake that hit Nepal on the weekend has affected 8 million people. The death toll has passed 5,000 and could rise sharply as aid workers struggle to reach remote villages.”

The Telegraph added on April 28 that “the country’s Prime Minister said the death toll could reach 10,000.”

Bizarre Jurassic Dinosaur Gives Plenty of Headaches to Evolutionists

The Guardian wrote on April 28:

“Fossil hunters in Chile have unearthed the remains of a bizarre Jurassic dinosaur that combined a curious mixture of features from different prehistoric animals. The evolutionary muddle of a beast grew to the size of a small horse and was the most abundant animal to be found 145 million years ago, in what is now the Aysén region of Patagonia. The discovery ranks as one of the most remarkable dinosaur finds of the past 20 years, and promises to cause plenty of headaches for paleontologists hoping to place the animal in the dinosaur family tree.

“’I don’t know how the evolution of dinosaurs produced this kind of animal…’ said Fernando Novas at the Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Museum in Buenos Aires… What’s surprising is that in this locality the most bizarre dinosaur is not the exception, but the rule. It is the most abundant animal we find,’ he added.

“… the animal belongs to the theropod group of dinosaurs, which includes the carnivorous tyrannosaurs and velociraptors. But unlike its meat-eating cousins, Chilesaurus had switched diets and become a vegetarian…”

Or maybe, it was the other way around: Vegetarians became meat-eaters. For more information, please read our new booklet, “Heavens and Earth… Before and After the First Man.” 

No Inspections in Iran–Ever!

Newsmax reported on April 20:

“A top Iranian commander said over the weekend that Tehran will never permit outsiders to inspect the regime’s military sites under any nuclear agreement, the state media organ Press Television reported. Brigadier Gen. Hossein Salami, the number two official in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, said a harsh response would await anyone who raised the subject of inspections. ‘Visiting a military base by a foreign inspector would mean the occupation of our land,’ Salami said. Even discussing the subject is tantamount to ‘national humiliation,’ he added.

“Iran and six world powers – the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China – announced  earlier this month that they had reached a framework deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program in return for lifting sanctions. Participants said they would work to conclude a final agreement by June 30. A fact sheet on the framework accord issued by the State Department said Iran would be required to grant the U.N.-affiliated International Atomic Energy Agency access to any ‘suspicious sites,’ the Associated Press noted.

“But Iran has questioned numerous points in the fact sheet – including Washington’s claim that sanctions against the Islamic Republic would be lifted only after the IAEA verified Tehran’s compliance with commitments it made in the talks. Iranian leaders, by contrast, have said the deal requires that sanctions be removed immediately, and have accused Washington of lying about its contents…

“Salami declared that permitting foreign inspectors to visit a military base was unacceptable because it would potentially expose Iranian ‘military and defense secrets,’ the Associated Press reported.”

So where is that great deal now? It sounds like it’s a fairy tale of delusional politicians.

Conflict in Yemen—US vs. Iran

The Associated Press reported on April 20:

“The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt is steaming toward the waters off Yemen to beef up security and join other American ships that are prepared to intercept any Iranian vessels carrying weapons to the Houthi rebels fighting in Yemen.

“Navy officials said Monday that the Roosevelt was moving through the Arabian Sea. The U.S. Navy has been beefing up its presence in the Gulf of Aden and the southern Arabian Sea amid reports that a convoy of about eight Iranian ships is heading toward Yemen and possibly carrying arms for the Houthis. Navy officials said there are about nine U.S. warships in the region, including cruisers and destroyers carrying teams that can board and search other vessels…

“The U.S. has been providing logistical and intelligence support to Saudi Arabia-led coalition launching airstrikes against the Houthis. That air campaign is now in its fourth week… So far… U.S. naval personnel have not boarded any Iranian vessels since the Yemen conflict began.

“White House spokesman Josh Earnest… said the U.S. has concerns about Iran’s ‘continued support for the Houthis… These are exactly the kind of destabilizing activities that we have in mind when we raise concerns about Iran’s destabilizing activities in the Middle East.’”

On April 20, Deutsche Welle added the following about the Pentagon’s usual denial:

“Later on Monday, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said the US Navy had sent an aircraft carrier and a guided-missile cruiser into the waters near Yemen to conduct maritime security operations. However, he denied that the vessels were on a mission to intercept Iranian arms shipments.”

Russia’s Ambitions in the Middle East

BBC News wrote on April 21:

“Russia’s decision to go ahead with the sale of the advanced S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Iran has angered its critics in the West and alarmed the Israeli government in equal measure. For some it has raised additional question-marks over the fate of any putative nuclear deal between Iran and the international community. But more significantly it may also mark a renewed effort by Moscow to bolster its diplomatic profile in the Middle East…

“During the years of Washington’s active engagement in Iraq, Russia’s once-strong role in the Middle East seemed to have been eclipsed… But in many ways appearances are deceptive. Russia had never really gone away and it has seized upon every opportunity in the wake of the failed ‘Arab spring’ to maximise its influence.

“No more so than with the government of its long-standing ally Syria, whose President, Bashar al-Assad, is anathema to the West, but not for the Kremlin… In addition, its former ally Egypt is again cosying up to Moscow. A major arms deal was signed last year; a sure indication of the military government’s frustration at its dealings with Washington.

“Moscow has also developed a highly pragmatic relationship with the region’s other major power, Turkey…

“Israel gave up arms deals with Georgia and has hesitated to sell lucrative drones to Ukraine in an effort to win favour with Moscow. Closer ties with Iran will also frustrate the Saudis and others in the Gulf…

“These are indeed difficult diplomatic waters to navigate, given the many regional rivalries that have only come to the fore as significant parts of the region’s political landscape have descended into chaos and blood-letting.”

Israel’s attempts to cozy up to Russia will back-fire.

Murders of Pro-Russian Journalists and Politicians in Ukraine

Deutsche Welle reported on April 21:

“… near the center of Kyiv, Ukrainian writer [and pro-Russian journalist] Oles Buzyna was shot dead last Thursday in broad daylight… The presumed assassination of the controversial journalist is particularly sensitive. Only a day earlier, on Wednesday evening, opposition politician Oleh Kalashnikov was shot dead in the Ukrainian capital. He too articulated Kremlin-friendly views. The 52-year-old was a former member of parliament for the pro-Russian Party of Regions.

‘The murders of Buzyna and Kalashnikov are the latest in a series. Ukrainian media have tallied around a dozen murders and suicides of members of the former ruling class in less than a year…

“Opposition politician Olena Bondarenko has received police protection. ‘I have to leave Kyiv,’ she told DW by telephone. She did not want to reveal her current location. The 41-year-old lawmaker and former member of the Party of Regions is known for her pro-Russian views…

“The two recent murders have further fueled the already tense atmosphere in Ukraine…  Whether on television talk shows or social networks, the division in the country has become noticeably deeper. Not infrequently, Ukrainian activists and ordinary citizens even go so far as to praise the killings of pro-Russian politicians, whom they consider ‘traitors.’”

If this continues, Russia will undoubtedly use this as justification to intervene militarily in Ukraine.

Morsi’s Sentence a Travesty of Justice?

Deutsche Welle reported on April 21:

“A Cairo court on Tuesday sentenced Morsi to 20 years for his role in attacks against people protesting his rule in 2012, convicting the former president and 14 associates of use of force, false imprisonment and torture against protesters. Rights group Amnesty International called the verdict ‘a travesty of justice’ and called for Morsi to be either retried, or released. The verdict is subject to appeal. ‘This verdict shatters any remaining illusion of independence and impartiality in Egypt’s criminal justice system,’ said Hassiba Hadj Saharaoui, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Amnesty International. ‘Any semblance of a fair trial was jeopardized from the outset by a string of irregularities in the judicial process and his arbitrary, incommunicado detention.’

“Morsi’s questioning took place without his lawyers present during his detention in an undisclosed location for four months following his ouster in July 2013. Amnesty also said Morsi’s lawyers could only access case files days before the trial’s start, and that only evidence of violence by Morsi supporters – and not of violence against them – were documented in court…

“Lawyers for the victims, however, told reporters in Cairo that they had anticipated a sterner sentence against the ex-president with regards to the dropped incitement of murder charges. ‘We were expecting them to be convicted of murder,’ Ramy Ghanem, a lawyer for an anti-Morsi protester wounded in the clashes…

“Twenty-two Morsi supporters received death sentences on Monday. The Brotherhood’s leader, Mohammed Badie, faces a death sentence but can appeal; all capital sentences in Egypt must go to an appeals court…

“Though democratically-elected, Morsi was toppled after major public protests against his government, with some in Egypt appealing to the military to intervene. The 63-year-old famously interrupted the first day of his trial repeatedly with cries of ‘I am the president of the republic!’…”

It is a sad truism that, no matter as to how one wants to look at this verdict, many of those in power (especially in dictatorial countries in the Middle East and elsewhere) rule without justice and mercy, until they are toppled by others who will rule without justice and mercy.

Controversial Statements of US Republican Presidential Candidates

Bloomberg News reported on April 19:

“Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio says he does not believe sexual orientation is a choice for the ‘enormous majority of people.’ [He added:] ‘In fact, the bottom line is, I believe that sexual preference is something people are born with…’… [He also] said he would attend a same-sex wedding…

“Texas Senator Ted Cruz said he has never had to make such a decision, dodging the question. Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, who has not announced a campaign yet, said he would not attend such a wedding. Ohio Governor John Kasich, another possible candidate, said he and his wife had been invited to a same-sex wedding and plan to attend…”

The only one who is clear and correct on this particular question, as quoted, is Rick Santorum. You might also want to review carefully the Q&A in this issue, regarding the topic of homosexuality.

Newsmax reported on April 18:

“Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee told Iowa radio talk-show host Jan Mickelson that the Obama administration had ‘an open hostility toward the Christian faith’ — urging prospective military recruits to enlist after President Barack Obama leaves the White House… ‘There’s nothing more honorable than serving one’s country and there’s no greater heroes to our country than our military,’ Huckabee said. ‘But I might suggest to parents, I’d wait a couple of years until we get a new commander-in-chief who will once again believe in “one nation under God” and believe that people of faith should be a vital part of the process of not only governing this country, but defending this country.’”

Mike Huckabee is correct in advising people not to enlist in the army now, but he is incorrect in advising people to enlist in the army later. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Should You Fight in War?” 

Controversial Statements of US Democratic Presidential Candidate

The Website of eonline.com reported on April 15:

“Just a few days after officially announcing she will run for president in the 2016 elections, Clinton has addressed one of the most hotly debated topics in politics—marriage equality. In her first remarks about same-sex marriage in nearly a year, a spokeswoman for Clinton’s campaign says [Clinton] hopes the Supreme Court will embrace marriage equality when it considers cases out of four states on April 28. ‘Hillary Clinton supports marriage equality and hopes the Supreme Court will come down on the side of same-sex couples being guaranteed that constitutional right,’ Adrienne Elrod told the Washington Blade today. This means Clinton is the only declared candidate for presidency who believes that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.”

Hillary Clinton is wrong on this issue, and the Supreme Court might very well decide this issue wrongly as well.

One of US’s Biggest Legal Scandal Unfolding

Deutsche Welle reported on April 20:

“The FBI has admitted that most of the experts in its forensic unit gave flawed testimony over two decades. This testimony was crucial in several rape and murder cases, some of which carried the death penalty… The US domestic intelligence service admitted officially that the Washington Post revelations on Saturday were correct. The paper had reported that 26 of 28 examiners with the FBI’s microscopic hair comparison unit had overstated matches of hair at crime scenes in ways that favored the prosecution’s cause. Wrong evidence was included in over 95 percent of the 268 trials reviewed for the twenty year period leading up to 2000.

“The paper… found that of the 32 defendants who were sentenced to death during that time, 14 had been executed or had died in prison… The review of a total of 2,000 criminal cases in which the FBI conducted microscopic hair analysis of crime scene evidence is being conducted under an agreement with the US government. It was launched after three men were exonerated by DNA evidence in three separate cases where different FBI analysts had provided scientifically invalid evidence…

“The report reveals one of the US’s biggest legal scandals, revealing that the courts had failed to recognize dubious scientific information that contributed to wrongful convictions in more than a quarter of 329 cases since 1989 where defendants were later exonerated on the basis of DNA evidence…”

How could a true Christian sleep at night if he had served on a jury and convicted a person to death, based on such false evidence and testimony?

How Could the Holocaust Happen?

The EUObserver wrote on April 21:

“The director of the US intelligence service FBI James Comey has caused a diplomatic row between his country and Poland with comments on Polish and Hungarian complicity in the mass killings of Jews during the Second World War. Hungary has also protested against the comments he made… [He said:] ‘In their minds, the murderers and accomplices of Germany, and Poland, and Hungary, and so many, many other places didn’t do something evil. They convinced themselves it was the right thing to do, the thing they had to do. That’s what people do. And that should truly frighten us.’…

“Historians estimate that during the Second World War six millions Jews have been killed. Many of Nazi Germany’s death camps were in the occupied region that is now Poland, but there was no independent Polish government at the time. In 1944-45 Hungary briefly had an anti-Semitic government which killed thousands of Jews…

“Many of Europe’s nations struggled after the war with the question how the genocide could have been allowed. Anti-Semitism was widespread in Europe, and according to historian Mark Mazower governments that were approached for support for the so-called Final Solution, ‘tended to be particularly cooperative in handing over Jewish refugees and other non-nationals’. It is difficult to determine how widespread support for the extermination of Jews was in the popular opinions of regular people in occupied Europe, Mazower notes in his book Dark Continent.

“However, ‘approval of the Final Solution was not a common phenomenon. In response to the horrors of occupation, most people living under Nazi control had retreated into a private world and tried to ignore everything that did not directly concern them.’”

People become complacent and indifferent about the horrors which are happening all around them… and which will increase in the near future. But this is not the attitude which a true Christian should have. He is most certainly not to participate in any violent action or military intervention, but he IS to “sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done…” (Ezekiel 9:4; compare also 2 Peter 2:7-8 and Psalm 119:136).

Greece’s Poker Game With Russia, the EU and the USA

The Telegraph wrote on April 18:

“Greek sources have told The Telegraph that [Greek’s] Syriza may sign a deal with Russia for Gazprom’s ‘Turkish Stream’ pipeline project as soon as next week, unlocking as much as €3bn to €5bn in advance funding. This confirms a report in Germany’s Spiegel magazine, initially denied by both the Russian and Greek governments. It is understood that the deal is being managed by… Greece’s energy minister and head of Syriza’s militant Left Platform, a figure with long-standing ties to Moscow…

“Bridging finance from the Kremlin would transform the situation, allowing Greece to avert a disastrous clash with the IMF… The drama has escalated into a bizarre form of brinkmanship for the highest stakes, with Greece effectively playing off Moscow, Brussels, and Washington, against each other in three-way geo-strategic poker… it is not yet clear whether Syriza can expect much more than a comfort blanket from the US… The Kremlin appears to have outbid the White House in the latest round. Brussels has yet to make any bid at all.”

The Telegraph added on April 20:

“The Greek government has ordered a mandatory transfer of cash reserves from state-owned enterprises to its central bank, in a desperate bid to gather enough cash to remain solvent. Citing ‘extremely urgent and unforeseen needs’, the government issued the emergency decree which will apply to all local government bodies immediately… Even the most conservative estimates calculate the government’s coffers will run dry in a matter of weeks.

“Despite the risk of violating its fiduciary obligations, the decree could now help the government meet its monthly €1.7bn wage and pension bill, averting a default on its own citizenry. It is thought the confiscation of reserves held in commercial banks to the Bank of Greece could raise as much as €2bn for the government.”

Fortress Europe for Migrants?

The Guardian wrote on April 23:

“Only 5,000 resettlement places across Europe are to be offered to refugees under the emergency summit crisis package to be agreed by EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday.

“A confidential draft summit statement seen by the Guardian indicates that the vast majority of those who survive the journey and make it to Italy – 150,000 did so last year – will be sent back as irregular migrants under a new rapid-return programme co-ordinated by the EU’s border agency, Frontex. More than 36,000 boat survivors have reached Italy, Malta and Greece so far this year.

“The draft summit conclusions also reveal that hopes of a major expansion of search-and-rescue operations across the Mediterranean in response to the humanitarian crisis are likely to be dashed, despite widespread and growing pressure.”

Genetically Modifying Human Embryos?

The Telegraph wrote on April 23:

“China has been ordered to ‘rein in’ scientists who have edited the DNA of human embryos for the first time, a practice banned in Europe. In a world’s first, researchers at the Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou confirmed they had engineered embryos to modify the gene responsible for the fatal blood disorder thalassaemia.

“The team, led by Junjiu Huang attempted to head off fears of eugenics by claiming the embryos were ‘non-viable’ and could never had become babies. But critics warned that China was becoming the ‘Wild West’ of genetic research saying it was the first step towards designer children and called for a worldwide ban on the practice…

“Advocates of gene editing say that it could eradicate devastating inherited disease. But others are worried that it crosses an ethical line, allowing children to be genetically engineered. And because the genetic changes are happening to embryos the changes will be passed down to future generations…

“Huang said he had abandoned the current project to go back to working out how to minimise the unexpected mutations in adults cells and animals. However at least four groups in China are believed to be currently working on genetically modifying human embryos.”

Ridiculous Pharisaical Teachings in Modern Judaism

JTA wrote on April 16:

“By changing the way a light switch works, the patented Kosher Switch offers a novel — and, its backers say, kosher — way to turn light switches (and, perhaps, other electrical appliances) on and off during Shabbat, circumventing one of the Sabbath’s central restrictions: the use of electricity… But critics say the Kosher Switch isn’t really kosher for Shabbat at all…

“At issue is whether the device’s permissibility for Shabbat relies on a Jewish legal loophole that applies only to extraordinary circumstances like medical or security needs. The loophole, known as a ‘gramma,’ allows for indirect activation of electronic devices on Shabbat. How does gramma work? If, for example, a non-life-threatening field fire is burning on Shabbat, jugs full of water may be placed around the fire to indirectly cause its eventual extinguishing. Dowsing the fire directly — a Sabbath prohibition — is permitted only in life-threatening circumstances.

“Kalati, 43, says his switch does not rely on the gramma loophole. When the switch is in the off position, a piece of plastic blocks an electronic light pulse that when received turns on the light. Turning the switch on moves the piece of plastic, which is not connected to anything electrical, so that it no longer obstructs the pulse. Because the light pulse is subject to a ‘random degree of uncertainty’ and won’t instantaneously kindle the light when in Sabbath mode, it is kosher for use on Shabbat…

“But Yisrael Rosen, head of the Zomet Institute, the leading designer of electronic devices for use on the Jewish Sabbath, says the Kosher Switch is unfit for Sabbath use… The son of another rabbi… Rabbi Oelbaum said his father’s true position is that while the switch does not involve a technical violation of the Sabbath prohibition against labor (which forbids electricity use), it is a desecration of the Sabbath spirit…

“For decades, Sabbath-observant Jews have used electronic timers set before Friday night to control lights and appliances like air conditioners or hot plates. Multistory buildings throughout Israel and some in the United States have Shabbat elevators that can run on autopilot. In 2004, Canadian rabbi and entrepreneur Shmuel Veffer invented a bedside-style lamp called Kosher Lamp that could be “turned off” by twisting a cylinder encasing a lit bulb so that the bulb was completely concealed.

“The Zomet Institute, located in the Jerusalem suburb of Gush Etzion, in the West Bank, has invented baby sensors, sump pump gadgets, hot water heater contraptions, and special switches that modify wheelchairs, hospital beds, electronic scooters and staircase elevators for use on Shabbat. However, many of these devices rely on the gramma loophole and are permitted only for medical or security use.

“Many observant Jews also rely upon non-Jews for help circumventing Sabbath restrictions, though such requests for help are forbidden from being expressed explicitly…”

These kinds of ridiculously burdensome, ungodly and UNBIBLICAL restrictions pertaining to the Sabbath were expressly and explicitly condemned by Jesus Christ. He stated that these human traditions (as opposed to God’s Law) made the Sabbath a burden, explaining that the Pharisees had done away with the commandments of God (including, how to observe the Sabbath in the RIGHT way), in order to uphold their own traditions (also referred to as “Judaism” in the Bible.). For more information, please read our free booklet, “God’s Commanded Holy Days”.

“Exorcisms” on the Rise in the Catholic Church

Newsmax reported on April 13:

“A new report says Pope Francis is playing a role in an increased number of exorcisms being performed worldwide. According to The Telegraph, Francis’ repeated references to the devil have spurred a rebirth of the practice that removes demons from people’s souls through intense prayer. The Vatican has also endorsed an exorcism conference taking place in Rome this week, which is hosting about 160 Catholic priests, according to The Telegraph…

“Pope Francis, whose papacy began two years ago, has made a habit of referencing the devil in his remarks. He linked Satan to Mexico’s drug problems over the winter, and has said in the past that the devil is trying to destroy the family… ‘Pope Francis talks about the devil all the time, and that has certainly raised awareness about exorcisms,’… Cesare Truqui, a Mexican priest trained as an exorcist, told The Telegraph. ‘But all Latin Americans have this sensibility — for them, the existence of the devil is part of their faith.’…

“‘Until a few years ago, a significant number of people in the church didn’t believe in the devil, but people are now going back to the Scriptures,’ an unnamed British exorcist priest told The Telegraph… ‘A few years ago, at least half the dioceses in England and Wales did not have an exorcist. Now, pretty much all of them do.’

“Truqui told the British paper that one-third of telephone calls made to the Diocese of Rome are related to exorcisms. Two years ago, after Francis became Pope, he was suspected of performing an exorcism in the middle of St. Peter’s Square after saying Sunday Mass. He placed his hands on a young boy’s head and said a prayer, to which the boy responded by heaving deeply several times and shaking before slumping back into his wheelchair. The Vatican, however, played down the incident, saying Francis simply said a prayer for a boy ‘who was suffering.’”

Satanic activities will drastically increase in the years to come. However, the Catholic practice of “exorcisms” will not really cast out a demon… even though it might appear to be the case. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Angels, Demons and the Spirit World.” 

Pope Francis Angers Turkey

AFP wrote on April 12:

“Pope Francis uttered the word ‘genocide’ on Sunday to describe the mass murder of Armenians 100 years ago… In a solemn mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica to mark the centenary of the Ottoman killings of Armenians, Francis said the murders were ‘widely considered “the first genocide of the 20th century”’, quoting a statement signed by Pope John Paul II and the Armenian patriarch in 2001.

“Many historians describe the World War I slaughter as the 20th century’s first genocide, but Turkey hotly denies the accusations. ‘The pope’s statement, which is far from the legal and historical reality, cannot be accepted,’ Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Twitter. ‘Religious authorities are not the places to incite resentment and hatred with baseless allegations,’ he added.

“The foreign ministry summoned the Vatican envoy to Ankara to explain the pope’s comments. It accused the pontiff of engaging in a ‘one-sided narrative’ that ignored the suffering of Muslims and other religious groups at that time… ‘It was a very courageous act to repeat clearly that it was a genocide,’ Vatican expert Marco Tosatti told AFP. ‘By quoting John Paul II, he strengthened the Church’s position, making it clear where it stands on the issue,’ he added…

“The 78-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church had been under pressure to use the term “genocide” publicly to describe the slaughter, despite the risk of alienating an important ally in the fight against radical Islam…

“Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were killed between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart, and have long sought to win international recognition of the massacres as genocide. But Turkey rejects the claims, arguing that 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians rose up against their Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian troops.

“More than 20 nations, including France and Russia, recognise the killings as genocide…

“When Francis visited Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered the pontiff a pact under which he would defend Christians in the Middle East in exchange for the Church tackling Islamophobia in the West…

“Francis said the other two genocides of the 20th century were ‘perpetrated by Nazism and Stalinism’, before pointing to more recent mass killings in Cambodia, Rwanda, Burundi and Bosnia. ‘It seems that humanity is incapable of putting a halt to the shedding of innocent blood,’ he said… He referred once again to the modern day as ‘a time of war, a third world war which is being fought piecemeal’, and evoked the ‘muffled and forgotten cry’ of those ‘decapitated, crucified, burned alive, or forced to leave their homeland.’”

As Jesus Christ foretold, we will experience more and more wars, until a coming nuclear World War will endanger the very survival of mankind. Insofar as Turkey is concerned, the Bible tells us that it will collaborate with Europe against Israel, but there is no reason to think that Turkey – a Muslim country — will ever become a recognized part of a United States of Europe under the leadership of the “beast” and the “false prophet.”

The Iran Deal—Would America Become Indirectly Responsible for Mass Murders?

Newsmax reported on April 10:

“Iran’s top officials, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani, are saying economic sanctions must end immediately and that UN inspectors will not be granted unfettered access to military installations and nuclear construction sites.

“But this may be nothing more than Iranian domestic political spin. And as long as there’s a potential deal, a critical point needs to be made: There is no provision for, or even discussion of, putting political restraints on Iran. That is, there is nothing in this deal that would force Iran to change its terrorist ways. Iran will continue to be the number-one state sponsor of terrorism in the Middle East, no matter what the deal.

“How can this be?

“Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Henry Kissinger and George P. Shultz make a crucial point: ‘Absent the linkage between nuclear and political restraint, America’s traditional allies will conclude that the U.S. has traded temporary nuclear cooperation for acquiescence to Iranian hegemony.’…

“Iran will continue to sponsor its terrorist proxies, like Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, keep proxy troops in Syria, continue its efforts to take over Iraq, further its designs on Yemen, and confront Sunni Saudi Arabia… Kissinger and Shultz write, ‘Iranian or Iranian client forces are now the pre-eminent military or political element in multiple Arab countries . . . With the recent addition of Yemen as a battlefield, Tehran occupies positions along all of the Middle East’s strategic waterways and encircles archrival Saudi Arabia, an American ally’…

“Make no mistake, the nanosecond sanctions are lifted U.S. and Western investment will pour into Iran. Looser financial sanctions will put an estimated $50 billion into Iran’s economy. And a number of European oil companies will jump to develop the world’s fourth-largest proven oil reserve and second-biggest national-gas reserve. Italy’s Eni, Royal Dutch Shell, France’s Total, Norway’s Statoil, German’s Siemens, and French car companies Peugeot and Citroën are ready to move. It’s reported that Boeing is looking to do business in Iran. HP and Google have been exploring contracts and licenses in Iran. Other major U.S. and European Internet companies have been approached by Iranian officials. And financial-service and credit card companies will move in quickly…

“Iran is our enemy, whether the president believes it or not. And if we cut deals that allow Iran to continue its terrorist and hegemonic activities, the Obama administration will have created an unbelievable Middle East powder keg, setting the stage for a conflict that could possibly dwarf any we’ve seen before. This is the worst U.S. foreign policy of my lifetime. It may be the worst in American history.”

Sadly, it looks this way.

Under the Deal, America Would Become Isolated!

On April 9, the Washington Post published the following article by Charles Krautheimer:

“As Kissinger and Shultz point out, we will be fought every step of the way, leaving the United States, not Iran, isolated. Obama imagines that this deal will bring Iran in from the cold, tempering its territorial ambitions and ideological radicalism. But this defies logic: With sanctions lifted, its economy booming and tens of billions injected into its treasury, why would Iran curb rather than expand its relentless drive for regional dominance?

“An overriding objective of these negotiations, as Obama has said, is to prevent the inevitable proliferation — Egypt, Turkey, the Gulf states — that would occur if Iran went nuclear. Yet the prospective agreement is so clearly a pathway to an Iranian bomb that the Saudis are signaling that the deal itself would impel them to go nuclear.

“You set out to prevent proliferation and you trigger it. You set out to prevent an Iranian nuclear capability and you legitimize it. You set out to constrain the world’s greatest exporter of terror threatening every one of our allies in the Middle East and you’re on the verge of making it the region’s economic and military hegemon.”

Another Sickening Compromise on the Iran “Deal”

Deutsche Welle reported on April 14:

“Senators from both sides of the aisle have compromised over a bill allowing congressional review of any final nuclear deal with Iran. The measure calls for the lifting of sanctions only with legislative approval.

“In a show of bipartisanship over what has been a hotly contested issue in Washington, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a measure Tuesday that struck a compromise between Congress’ wish to be involved in a final nuclear deal with Iran and the White House’s concern that such a deal be completed by June.

“The Senate panel unanimously approved the measure with a vote of 19-0. The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 allows Congress to review the deal before any US sanctions against Iran are lifted, to be followed by a 12-day period for a possible presidential veto and a 10-day window for an attempt to override such a veto.

“President Obama withdrew his objection to the bill after language was removed obligating him to prove that Tehran was not engaging in terrorism. Another controversial amendment was removed by its author Marco Rubio… The amendment would have required Iran to recognize Israel’s right to exist.”

These compromises are sickening… with NO politician willing to stand up for their alleged convictions…

Russia Gives Green Light for Sending Missiles to Iran

Bloomberg News reported on April 13:

“President Vladimir Putin lifted a ban on the delivery of S-300 air-defense missile systems to Iran as Russia pushed for repeal of an arms embargo following an agreement on the Islamic republic’s nuclear program. Putin repealed its 2010 prohibition on S-300 exports to Iran… While the two countries had signed an $800 million contract for the systems in 2007, Russia halted delivery after the United Nations imposed an arms embargo three years later.

“The S-300 is a ‘purely defensive’ weapon and delivering it to Iran won’t ‘threaten the security of any state in the region, including, of course, Israel,’ Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday… Russia ‘will promptly carry out the order of the president’ and send the S-300 systems to Iran ‘if a political decision is taken’ to deliver them…”

Russia and Iran are in fact prophesied to collaborate against other nations, including militarily. For more information, please read our free booklets on “Biblical Prophecy… From Now Until Forever,” and “Middle Eastern Nations and African Nations in Prophecy.” 

“Putin Warship and Nuclear Bombers Menace the UK”

The Daily Mail wrote on April 15:

“A Russian warship and two bombers strayed close to UK territory yesterday in yet another apparent attempt to test Britain’s defences. A destroyer equipped with missiles, anti-aircraft guns and torpedoes entered the English Channel along with two other Russian ships. It forced the UK to send a heavily-armed frigate to monitor the vessels.

“Just a few hours later, two Russian long-range Bear bombers, capable of carrying nuclear missiles, hugged British airspace – prompting the RAF to deploy two Typhoon fighter jets. Sources claim both incidents may have been an attempt to ‘snoop’ on a huge Nato war games exercise taking place in Scotland…”

The Shaky “Cease-Fire”-Agreement Between Russia and Ukraine

The Local wrote on April 14:

“The French, German, Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers expressed ‘grave concern’ Tuesday at a meeting in Berlin about violations of a shaky ceasefire in separatist-held east Ukraine… Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier admitted the five-hour-long talks had been ‘very long, very intensive and at times very contentious’ given the tense situation on the ground…

“European OSCE monitors reported ‘renewed intensive fighting’ Sunday around the rebel stronghold of Donetsk.. The results of the talks in Berlin will be discussed at a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in the northern German city of Lübeck on Tuesday and Wednesday. Russia will once again not participate. It has been closed out of the group of the world’s largest economies since the annexation of the Crimea in March last year.

“US Secretary of State John Kerry will arrive on Wednesday after attending a US Congress hearing on the nuclear deal with Iran on Tuesday. The discussions will lay down the groundwork for the main G7 summit to be held on June 7th and 8th at the Elmau Palace in Bavaria. The two meetings take place during Germany’s year-long chairmanship of the group.

“Other themes up for discussion will be the nuclear deal with Iran, the conflict with Isis in Syria and Iraq, and improving defence mechanisms against the Ebola virus…”

The controversy between Europe and Russia over Ukraine is bound to continue. Germany, as the current leader of the G7 countries, will have further opportunity to flex its muscles.

The Gap Widens Between Russia and the EU

Der Spiegel Online wrote on April 14:

“… the Russian president is preparing his country for May 9, which marks the anniversary of the end of the war with Hitler’s Germany. It is ‘our country’s most important and most honest holiday,’ Putin said in Staraya Russa. ‘It is the day of the great victory.’

“The end of the war will be commemorated in Russia for the 70th time this year. Since it was declared an official holiday in 1965, May 9, with its spontaneous gatherings of veterans in the streets, public festivals and gun salutes in the evening, has in fact become Russia’s most moving holiday — and perhaps the only one that has truly united the people…

“May 9, 2015 shows that… the war still hasn’t ended for Russia. It demonstrates that the country’s leadership needs the memory of that war more than ever… The parade in Moscow on the morning of May 9 is intended to set an example. It will be the biggest military parade ever held. Some 15,000 soldiers will march across Red Square, 4,000 more than at the last major anniversary. Two hundred tanks, artillery and missiles will roll past the Kremlin, and 140 fighter jets will crowd the skies over Moscow. Weapons will be displayed that ‘will astonish the entire world,’ wrote the tabloid newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda…

“The Kremlin had invited 68 leaders of foreign countries to the victory celebration, including the most important politicians in the Western world. So far, only 25 have accepted Moscow’s invitation. US President Barack Obama will not be attending, nor will British Prime Minister David Cameron or French President François Hollande. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be there, but only on May 10, the day after the parade. TV images from Moscow will illustrate how isolated Russia has become as a result of its policy on Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea…

“Senior representatives of only three European Union countries — the Czech Republic, Greece and Cyprus — are so far planning to attend the ceremonies… Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras also won praise from Russia during his mid-week visit to Moscow, when he paid tribute to the two countries’ joint struggle against Nazism and promised to return in one month to attend the parade on May 9… Former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, now the president of the European Council and therefore spokesman of the European heads of state and government, had declared weeks ago why we would not attend the Moscow parade on May 9. ‘A presence at the military parade, hand-in-hand with today’s aggressors and a person using weapons against civilians in eastern Ukraine? For me, delicately speaking, it’s too ambiguous,’ Tusk said…

“The controversy over the Moscow victory celebration on May 9 illustrates how far Russia has distanced itself from the Europeans, and just how wide the gap between the two sides has grown…

“Many Russians say that Vladimir Putin has repurposed it into a day that celebrates war itself and, most of all, Russia’s strength. For them, it is no longer a day of tears and commemoration…”

Germany Wants to Supply Lithuania Weapons Against Russia

The Local wrote on April 15:

“Germany said Wednesday it wants to sell howitzer-type mobile artillery vehicles to Lithuania as the Baltic NATO nation boosts its defences amid concerns over neighbouring Russia… German media reported the hardware was used by Berlin in Afghanistan and is now worth €15 million… the Baltic state [is] also mulling whether to buy German Boxer-type armoured fighting vehicles.

“Under Moscow’s thumb until 1991, Lithuania along with fellow Baltic states Estonia and Latvia launched a concerted drive to boost defences since Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine last year. NATO members since 2004, the three Baltic states have repeatedly asked allies to step up their presence to deter Russia.

“Berlin will send over 500 troops to Lithuania for military exercises this year. NATO is also reinforcing its defences on Europe’s eastern flank with a rapid reaction force of 5,000 troops and command centres in six formerly communist members of the alliance, including the three Baltic states.”

GOP Slams Obama Over Cuba Decision

Newsmax reported on April 15:

“Republicans slammed President Barack Obama’s decision Tuesday to remove Cuba from the State Department’s list of terrorism sponsors, with Florida Rep. Illeana Ros-Lehtinen accusing the White House of acting ‘only for political reasons and not in accordance with the law.’…

“House Speaker John Boehner said he was ‘disappointed’ by the decision, adding that Obama’s ‘cozying up to the oppressive regime in Cuba is a blow to all who long for liberty and dignity. It’s just one more example of this administration focusing more on befriending our enemies than helping our allies,’ he said…

“The move came three days after Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro met informally during a regional summit in Panama. The talks marked the first official meeting between the leaders of their countries in more than a half-century…

“Removing Cuba from the terror list could pave the way for the opening of a U.S. Embassy in Havana and other steps. The countries still on the list are Iran, Sudan and Syria…

“Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida also slammed Obama’s decision. ‘Cuba is a state sponsor of terrorism,’ he said in a video message. ‘They harbor fugitives of American justice. It’s also the country that’s helping North Korea evade sanctions by the United Nations…’

“Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who also is considering a presidential run, said after a speech of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce that ‘we’re not a step closer to freedom in Cuba because of the steps the president is taking’…

“And another possible 2016 contender, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, cited the decision as ‘yet   (another) example of President Obama viewing the world through rose-colored glasses’…”

ISIS in Mexico and the USA?

Newsmax reported on April 14:

“The Islamic State (ISIS) is operating a camp in northern Mexico just a few miles from El Paso, Texas, Judicial Watch said Tuesday, citing sources that include a Mexican Army field grade officer and a Mexican Federal Police inspector. Judicial Watch sources said that ‘coyotes’ working for the notorious Juarez Cartel are involved in helping to ‘move ISIS terrorists through the desert and across the border between Santa Teresa and Sunset Park, New Mexico.’

“Moreover, east of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, cartel-backed coyotes are smuggling members of the jihadi terrorist group ‘through the porous border between Acala and Fort Hancock, Texas,’ Judicial Watch reported…

“The watchdog group’s sources say the precise location where ISIS has established the base is approximately eight miles from the U.S. border in an area known as ‘Anapra,’ located just west of Ciudad Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.

“Another ISIS cell is said to be located in Puerto Palomas, located to the west of Ciudad Juárez. That cell ‘targets the New Mexico towns of Columbus and Deming for easy access to the United States,’ Judicial Watch’s Mexican sources say…

“Judicial Watch — which has been successful in prying loose substantial amounts of information on an array of Obama administration-linked scandals, including the ‘Fast and Furious’ gun-walking case — told Newsmax that four ISIS members had in fact been apprehended after crossing into the United States.”

The media also reported on ISIS’s recent surprise attacks and victories in Iraq.

The UK and the EU

Express wrote on April 15:

“In news that is likely to bolster calls for the UK’s complete withdrawal from the EU, the president of the European Commission (EC), Jean-Claude Juncker, has put the brakes on reforming the relations between member states and Brussels. Mr Cameron has vowed to hold an in/out vote on Britain’s membership of the EU in 2017, but only after a series of talks aimed at reconfiguring the UK’s relationship with Brussels.

“But, now he appears to have been told Brussels chiefs will only negotiate two years AFTER that date – when Mr Juncker steps down from office. An official close to the EU’s top politician told The Times: ‘No treaty change proposals are envisaged until after November 2019’.

“British hopes for amendments are now likely to have to wait until as late as 2025, when EU treaties are scheduled to be overhauled…

“The fact that it is Mr Juncker who is said to be ruling out potential negotiations will be particularly galling as Mr Cameron had sought to block his appointment as EC president last June…”

UK Among the Least Religious Countries in the World

The website of itv.com reported on April 13:

“A new survey has revealed that the UK is among the least religious countries in the world. In a global ranking of 65 countries, the UK came six places from last with 30% of the population calling themselves religious.

“While 53% of people said they were ‘not religious’… 13% said they were a ‘convinced atheist’ and the remainder ‘did not know’. It compares to 94% of people in Thailand who are religious and 93% of people in Armenia, Bangladesh, Georgia and Morocco.

“At the bottom of the list was China where only 6% of people say they are religious while 61% say they are convinced atheists. It was followed by Japan, where just 13% of people are religious, Sweden with 19% , Czech Republic with 23%, and the Netherlands and Hong Kong with 26%.

“Jean-Marc Leger, president of Win/Gallup International Association, said globally an average of two-thirds of people still consider themselves religious. ‘Religion continues to dominate our everyday lives and we see that the total number of people who consider themselves to be religious is actually relatively high,’ he said.”

The website of wingia.com added on April 13:

“The research discovered that the most religious regions are Africa and MENA (Middle East and North Africa) where 86% and 82% respectively of the people consider themselves to be religious… Western Europe (51%) and Oceania (49%) are the only regions where approximately half of the population are either not religious or convinced atheist… The Swedish prove to be the least religious in the Western World with 78% saying they are either not religious or convinced atheists.

“In Israel, 65% of those asked said that they are either not religious or convinced atheists compared to just 30% who say that they are religious. Meanwhile in the Palestinian Territories (West Bank and Gaza) the population is considerably more religious with 75% saying that they are religious compared to 18% who say that they are not religious.”

Vaccination – Yes or No?

The website of skynews.com.au reported on April 13:

“Australian parents will lose thousands of dollars of childcare and welfare benefits if they refuse to vaccinate their kids… Thousands of families could lose payments, with the government estimating about 39,000 children under seven have not received immunisation because their parents are vaccine objectors… Children can still be exempted on medical or religious grounds, but… the latter exemption is ‘very narrow’…

“But there are some who strongly oppose measures that mandate immunisation. An online petition against compulsory vaccinations in Australia that states ‘all parents deserve to make an uncoerced choice’ has received more than 3000 signatures in five days. Parents have taken to the change.org webpage to express their concerns about vaccinations and what they view is a potential encroachment on civil rights…”

Reuters reported on April 14:

“A Washington state school district pulled 143 students who lacked documentation proving they had received required immunizations from classrooms on Monday, in a first-in-the-state clamp-down… All U.S. states require certain vaccines for students for diseases such as mumps, rubella, tetanus or polio, but school immunization laws grant exemptions to children for medical reasons, including an inhibited immune system.

“Almost all states also grant religious exemptions against immunizations, with 20 states also allowing philosophical exemptions, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Parents who want to opt out of school shots on philosophical, religious or medical grounds in Washington state… must file a state-mandated waiver with the district…”

On March 30, the website of motherjones.com published the following article:

“The Waiting Room at Pediatric Alternatives in Mill Valley, a town in the affluent hippie enclave of Marin County, California, is a far cry from the drab doctors’ offices I remember from childhood… The practice’s five physicians have impeccable credentials, having trained and completed residencies at some of the nation’s top medical schools and institutions. Several are fellows of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“Given all this, it might surprise you to learn that one of Pediatric Alternatives’ policies is extremely unorthodox: It suggests that families delay certain childhood immunizations—in some cases for years past the age recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—and forego others entirely. A little less than 20 percent of the families the practice treats choose not to vaccinate at all. The rest use a modified vaccine schedule…

“Kenet Lansman tells me she would never deny any vaccine to parents who request it for their child. But she does share her personal beliefs with her patients: She fears that vaccines have contributed to the recent uptick in autoimmune disorders and other chronic conditions… She has a policy of giving only one vaccination at a time, and only when a child is completely healthy…

“The main reason for the delay, Kenet Lansman says, is that she still believes there could be a link between vaccines and autism. She acknowledges that the scientific community has rejected this theory, yet she says she has seen children from her own practice who begin to show signs of autism shortly after being vaccinated…”

Breitbart reported on April 14:

“Parents opposed to a California legislative effort to revoke their ability to exempt their children from some vaccinations… promise to yank those kids out of school if the measure passes into law.

“The Democrat-sponsored Senate Bill 277 was proposed in response to a measles outbreak whose spread began at Disneyland last December. If passed, SB 277 would remove parents’ ability to sign a waiver that currently allows them to exempt their children from one or more school required vaccinations… In related news, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine campaign… ran into trouble after he connected autism to the Holocaust.”

Late Günter Grass Warned of World War III

The Guardian wrote on April 14:

“Germany’s Nobel-winning author Günter Grass said he feared humanity was ‘sleepwalking’ into a world war in the last interview he gave before his death on Monday.

“’We have on the one side Ukraine, whose situation is not improving; in Israel and Palestine things are getting worse; the disaster the Americans left in Iraq, the atrocities of Islamic State and the problem of Syria,’ he told the Spanish newspaper El País in the interview published on Tuesday. ‘There is war everywhere; we run the risk of committing the same mistakes as before; so without realising it we can get into a world war as if we were sleepwalking,’ he added.

“Spain’s top-selling newspaper said the interview, carried out at the author’s home in Lübeck in northern Germany on 21 March, was his last before his death aged 87.

“Grass, who achieved worldwide fame with his debut and best-known novel, The Tin Drum, in 1959 was a pacifist, opposing the installation of nuclear missiles on German soil. In his lengthy interview with El País, he also expressed concern over climate change and overpopulation. ‘All of this together makes me realise that things are finite, that we don’t have an indefinite amount of time,’ he said. Grass pressed Germany for decades to face up to its Nazi past, winning the Nobel prize for literature in 1999, when the Swedish academy said his ‘frolicsome black fables portray the forgotten face of history’”.

Other papers, reporting on the death of Grass, tried to discredit him by pointing out that he had first concealed, but subsequently revealed the fact that he had been drafted, as a 17-year-old boy (!), to the German Waffen-SS at the very end of World War II. Such hypocritical reporting in some papers is difficult to understand, and we chose not to quote any of these inflammatory articles. Grass declared that he never used his gun to shoot anyone and that he did not know anything about the Holocaust until after the War. The fact that he strongly opposed Nazism in all its different forms and shapes supports his claim.

Resurrecting Dead Animals?

The Independent wrote on April 13:

“De-extinction, or the idea of bringing extinct species back from the dead, has come a long way over the quarter century since Jurassic Park was first published. It has now matured into a quasi-serious science and has even been the subject of its own TEDx conference… some scientists are proposing to resurrect a range of other, more-recently extinct species such as the passenger pigeon and the gastric-brooding frog, both lost within living memory.

“There are quite a few animals that have become extinct relatively recently that are potential candidates for de-extinction. They include the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, a large marsupial carnivore wiped out by sheep ranchers a century ago, the Pyrenean ibex which was hunted for sport until the last one fell dead in 2000, and the Steller’s sea cow, a gentle giant annihilated by hungry sailors in the 18th century.

“Perhaps the most emblematic of them all is the woolly mammoth. There are few animals that better represent the lost world of the Pleistocene than these huge, shaggy relatives of the modern elephant. Woolly mammoths roamed the vast grassy steppe of Eurasia and North America for hundreds of millennia. The very last individuals were an isolated population of pygmy woolly mammoths that lived on Wrangel Island off northern Russia about 4,500 years ago.

“There is no shortage of woolly mammoth tissue, some of it remarkably well preserved in the permafrost of Siberia and some scientists are confident that they can extract its DNA to bring the species back to life, either as clones or as a kind of mammoth-elephant hybrid.

“Scientists in South Korea and Russia are collaborating on a project to clone a woolly mammoth by extracting a cell nucleus from frozen mammoth tissue and inserting its entire genetic material into the enucleated egg cell of an Asian elephant, which would also act as a surrogate mother. It’s the same basic cloning technique that led to the birth of Dolly the cloned sheep in 1996, except this time two species are involved rather than one – and one of them has been extinct for thousands of years…

“Another de-extinction approach is to cut and paste large fragments of mammoth DNA into the chromosomes of an Asian elephant, thereby creating a genetically-engineered mammoth-elephant ‘hybrid’. Scientists involved in this project prefer to think about it as a way of making a cold-adapted Asian elephant with mammoth-like traits, such as hairy skin and layers of subcutaneous fat for good thermal insulation.

“Scientists have already managed to sequence about half of the mammoth genome from the many small fragments of DNA isolated from frozen remnants of biological material, such as skin, hair, bone, teeth and even dung. They believe it is only a question of time before they achieve their ultimate de-extinction aim: a living hybrid…”

You might want to read our free booklet, “Heavens and Earth… Before and After the First Man,” which addresses many topics related to the gist and substance of this article.

Muscle-Flexing by Iran

AP reported on April 8:

“Iran dispatched a destroyer and another naval ship to waters off Yemen on Wednesday, raising the stakes amid a Saudi-led air campaign targeting Iranian-backed Shiite rebels fighting forces loyal to the country’s embattled president.

“The Iranian maneuver came as the U.S. deepened its support for the Saudi-led coalition, boosting weapons supplies and intelligence-sharing and carrying out the first U.S. aerial refueling mission of coalition fighter jets.

“The Iranian warships were sent to the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait as part of an anti-piracy campaign to ‘safeguard naval routes for vessels in the region,’ Iranian Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayyari was quoted as saying by the English-language state broadcaster Press TV.

“Securing navigation in the narrow strait was a key reason for the Saudi-led air and maritime blockade that began after Yemen’s internationally recognized president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, fled the country two weeks ago as the rebels closed in on Aden, Yemen’s second-largest city where he was based.”

ISIS Pushes Closer to Damascus

Breitbart reported on April 5:

“Islamic State (IS or ISIS or ISIL or Daesh) militias have taken control of a southern district in Damascus, Syria, and are just a few kilometers from the military headquarters of the regime of Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad. Al-Assad’s army has suffered several recent defeats, especially the major military defeat in Idlib, and so it appears that ISIS may present a real military challenge to the regime in its seat of power. Reports indicate that ISIS is also receiving help from the al-Qaeda linked Jabhat al-Nusra (al-Nusra Front), a group with which it often has battles in other places and times.

“ISIS’s advance into Damascus is through the Yarmouk refugee camp, home to about 18,000 Palestinian refugees. The camp has been under siege from al-Assad’s army since 2011, since al-Assad feared that the Palestinian refugees would join the fight against him. In the last couple of years, the Free Syrian Army and al-Qaeda linked Jabhat al-Nusra (al-Nusra Front) have entered Yarmouk and fought each other, making Yarmouk increasingly dangerous for the civilians living there. Now the invasion of ISIS has turned Yarmouk into a humanitarian disaster. Aid groups are unable to enter Yarmouk, with the result that the civilians have no food and water, no electricity. Anyone who leaves his home risks getting shot and killed by snipers on the rooftops.

“Other reports indicate that al-Assad’s forces are trying to fight ISIS by means of ‘violent shelling by the regime forces using tank shells and ground-to-ground missiles,’ weapons that are more likely to kill civilians than ISIS.”

Obama’s Deal with Iran Weakens the USA

The Editorial Board of the Washington Post wrote on April 6:

“PRESIDENT OBAMA has launched an aggressive lobbying campaign for his preliminary nuclear deal with Iran… Unfortunately… the president’s claims could have a self-fulfilling quality. By loudly insisting there is no alternative to the terms he has agreed to, Mr. Obama helps ensure that the option of maintaining sanctions while insisting that Iran agree to dismantle more of its nuclear infrastructure… is no longer a practical alternative.

“At the same time, the White House stance risks weakening its negotiating position in the crucial bargaining with Iran. Mr. Obama conceded that some vital ‘details’ have not yet been worked out, including how the lifting of sanctions on Iran would be tied to its implementation of steps such as reducing its stockpile of enriched uranium and its base of installed centrifuges. Worryingly, the fact sheets issued by the U.S. and Iranian governments differ sharply… The gulf between those two scenarios is extremely important…

“Similarly crucial differences may be buried in the as-yet-unspecified details of how inspectors will obtain access to new suspected nuclear sites and how they will get answers to outstanding questions about Iran’s previous work on nuclear warhead designs. By insisting that the deal is already the best available, Mr. Obama is making it more difficult for his negotiators to walk away from the follow-up talks if they are unable to obtain satisfactory terms. If Iran continues to insist on the ‘immediate’ lifting of sanctions, will the president give in rather than reverse his rhetoric?…”

America’s foreign policy, including Obama’s controversial and ill-advised “deal” with Iran, is one of utter weakness, inconsistency and failure.

Western Leadership Failing!

AP reported on April 5:

“On a basic level, the framework deal between world powers and Tehran will be judged by whether it prevents an Iranian bomb, but that will take years to figure out.

“A more immediate issue is the projection of Western power. Supporters of the framework deal can argue that the U.S. and world powers extracted significant concessions from Iran, breaking a decade-long impasse and proving that diplomacy backed by tough sanctions can bring about positive change even in the Middle East.

“But if, as critics contend, the agreement ends up projecting U.S. weakness instead, that could embolden rogue states and extremists alike, and make the region’s vast array of challenges — from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Syrian civil war to the fighting in Libya and Yemen — even more impervious to Western intervention.

“The United States wants to rein in Syria’s President Bashar Assad as his ruinous civil war grinds into year five. It would like to encourage more liberal domestic policies in Egypt and push Iraq’s leaders to govern more inclusively. Despite years of setbacks, the U.S. would still like to see a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict…

“The implications of a weak United States, meanwhile, are not just regional but global, affecting events from Russia to China and North Korea — as well as the prospects for global accords on climate change or even significant trade deals.”

Obama: “Nuclear Deal Cannot Depend on Iran Recognizing Israel”

Deutsche Welle wrote on April 7:

“Barack Obama has told US radio network NPR that demanding for Iran to recognize Israel would go beyond the scope of the nuclear deal discussed with Tehran… ‘The notion that we would condition Iran not getting nuclear weapons in a verifiable deal on Iran recognizing Israel is really akin to saying that we won’t sign a deal unless the nature of the Iranian regime completely transforms…And that, I think, is a fundamental [mis]judgement,’ Obama said in the interview…

“Meanwhile, Republican leader Mitch McConnell criticized the pact with Iran saying that lawmakers opposed to the deal were planning a formal response…

“On Monday, Israel’s Minister for Strategic Affairs, Yuval Steinitz, said his country was still considering military action against Iran’s nuclear program. ‘It was on the table. It’s still on the table, it’s going to remain on the table…Israel should be able to defend – for itself, by itself – against any threat,’ Steinitz told reporters in Jerusalem.”

Taking America Down…

The Weekly Standard reported on April 8:

“Vice President Dick Cheney had harsh criticism for President Barack Obama in an interview last night with radio host Hugh Hewitt.

“Hewitt asked the former vice president, ‘Is he naïve, Mr. Vice President? Or does he have a far-reaching vision that only he entertains of a realigned Middle East that somehow it all works out in the end?’

“‘I don’t know, Hugh. I vacillate between the various theories I’ve heard, but you know, if you had somebody as president who wanted to take America down, who wanted to fundamentally weaken our position in the world and reduce our capacity to influence events, turn our back on our allies and encourage our adversaries, it would look exactly like what Barack Obama’s doing. I think his actions are constituted in my mind those of the worst president we’ve ever had.’”

America is going down! However, it is because of our national sins and our refusal to turn in heartfelt repentance to God. President Obama may well be an instrument to this end, as Mr. Cheney suggested.

Police Brutality and Abuse in America

The Local wrote on April 7:

“Three German journalists announced on Thursday they are taking the police in the American town of Ferguson to court after they were arrested while covering race riots there in August 2014.

“The journalists, Ansgar Graw of Die Welt, Lukas Hermsmeier of Bild and Frank Hermann, a freelancer for regional newspapers were arrested and detained for ‘refusal to disperse’… Graw told The Local that the police never gave him any official reason for his arrest but that his mugshot was accompanied by the text ‘refusal to disperse.’

“The correspondent said that the case was not about him but about asking ‘whether a county in the USA can accept that their police violate freedom of the press.’ ‘The American police overstep their rights very clearly and too often,’ he said…

“The journalists are arguing that their incarceration was a violation of the First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the American Constitution, which cover freedom of speech, freedom of the press and protection against unlawful arrest. Graw, who has been based in Washington since 2009, also complained that conditions in prison were meant to ‘humiliate’ him. He was not only handcuffed but also chained to a wall… ‘In America the attitude is “We are the law and you have to accept whatever we tell you.”'”

Sadly, this seems to be very true far too often—see the appalling report below:

Shot in the Back!!!

Nytimes.com wrote on April 8:

“A white police officer in North Charleston, S.C., was charged with murder on Tuesday after a video surfaced showing him shooting in the back and killing an apparently unarmed black man while the man ran away.

“The officer, Michael T. Slager, 33, said he had feared for his life because the man had taken his stun gun in a scuffle after a traffic stop on Saturday. A video, however, shows the officer firing eight times as the man, Walter L. Scott, 50, fled. The North Charleston mayor announced the state charges at a news conference Tuesday evening.

“The shooting came on the heels of high-profile instances of police officers’ using lethal force in New York, Cleveland, Ferguson, Mo., and elsewhere. The deaths have set off a national debate over whether the police are too quick to use force, particularly in cases involving black men.

“A White House task force has recommended a host of changes to the nation’s police policies, and President Obama sent Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to cities around the country to try to improve police relations with minority neighborhoods.”

Justice has departed from our land!

The Murder of Walter Scott

Deutsche Welle wrote on April 9:

“The man who shocked the world with a video apparently showing a white police officer in North Charleston, South Carolina, shoot unarmed African American Walter Lamer Scott came forward late Wednesday, saying he immediately recognized the significance of the chilling footage he recorded… As a result of the recording, 33-year-old Slager was charged with murder on Tuesday and faces a sentence of life imprisonment or death if convicted. Slager stands accused of killing Scott, 50, after a scuffle that began with a traffic stop for a broken tail light. The video contradicted Slager’s claim that he fired because he felt threatened…

“In an interview with the Associated Press, another North Charleston resident claimed to have lodged a complaint against Slager in 2013 for use of excessive force, but that the officer was allowed to remain on duty following a brief investigation. Mario Givens, now 33, said in the interview that Slager forcibly entered his home and used a stun gun on him despite the fact that Givens had surrendered and put his hands in the air. Givens also claimed that Slager never said what he wanted or who he was looking for…”

One must wonder why persons like Slager are allowed to work as police officers…

California Drought Brings Changes

NYTimes.com reported on April 4:

“For more than a century, California has been the state where people flocked for a better life — 164,000 square miles of mountains, farmland and coastline, shimmering with ambition and dreams, money and beauty. It was the cutting-edge symbol of possibility: Hollywood, Silicon Valley, aerospace, agriculture and vineyards.

“But now a punishing drought — and the unprecedented measures the state announced last week to compel people to reduce water consumption — is forcing a reconsideration of whether the aspiration of untrammeled growth that has for so long been this state’s driving engine has run against the limits of nature.

“The 25 percent cut in water consumption ordered by Gov. Jerry Brown raises fundamental questions about what life in California will be like in the years ahead, and even whether this state faces the prospect of people leaving for wetter climates — assuming, as Mr. Brown and other state leaders do, that this marks a permanent change in the climate, rather than a particularly severe cyclical drought.

“This state has survived many a catastrophe before — and defied the doomsayers who have regularly proclaimed the death of the California dream — as it emerged, often stronger, from the challenges of earthquakes, an energy crisis and, most recently, a budgetary collapse that forced years of devastating cuts in spending. These days, the economy is thriving, the population is growing, the state budget is in surplus, and development is exploding from Silicon Valley to San Diego; the evidence of it can be seen in the construction cranes dotting the skylines of Los Angeles and San Francisco.

“But even California’s biggest advocates are wondering if the severity of this drought, now in its fourth year, is going to force a change in the way the state does business.”

European Rapid Reaction Force Ready Within Eight Hours

The Local wrote on April 9:

“Soldiers from Nato’s new rapid reaction force, including hundreds of German troops, were ready to deploy within eight hours of receiving the alert in an exercise simulating an urgent deployment to eastern Europe.

“Around 900 of the 1,500 personnel involved in the 12-nation exercise are based in Germany, where they are supposed to be ready to leave their bases in Saxony, Thuringia and Rhineland-Palatinate with their vehicles and equipment within five days.

“The VJTF was formed in response to growing fears over the threat Russia poses to bordering countries such as Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania in the wake of the Ukraine crisis. By holding forces ready to be deployed at any moment, the alliance hopes to deter Russia from any aggressive moves towards its neighbours in north-eastern Europe…”

California Drought Becoming Critical—Rationing Grows!

Reuters wrote on April 1:

“California Governor Jerry Brown, acting in the face of a devastating multiyear drought, ordered the first statewide mandatory water restrictions on Wednesday, directing cities and communities to reduce usage by 25 percent.

“The cutbacks, to be implemented by state and local water agencies, will affect consumers and businesses throughout the most populous U.S. state, but farmers, who are already making do with less water for irrigation, will be exempt.

“‘We’re standing on dry ground and we should be standing on five feet (1.5 metres) of snow,’ Brown said at a state snow monitoring station in the Sierra Nevada community of Phillips near Lake Tahoe, where dry grass lay limp on the ground.

“‘This is rationing,’ said Brown, a four-term Democrat whose two non-consecutive stints in office have coincided with two of the state’s worst droughts on record. ‘We’re just doing it through the different water districts.’

“The governor said the move, which comes as California reports its lowest snowpack levels on record, would save some 1.5 million acre-feet of water over the next nine months.

“Brown said he was ordering that 50 million square feet (4.6 million square metres) of lawns across the state be replaced with drought-tolerant landscaping and the creation of a consumer rebate program to replace old appliances with newer, more water-efficient models.

“Different parts of the state will have to reduce their water use more than others, because some have already cut way back, Brown said.

“Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the state Water Resources Control Board, said regulators would not hesitate to issue fines of up to $10,000 per day to water districts that do not succeed in implementing the cutbacks.”

These dire circumstances are increasing for not just California but for the entire country. California’s food production is distributed nationwide, and the state’s economy will begin to erode without adequate water supplies. This is the very thing which God warned would happen to our people if we rebelled against Him!

Religious Persecution in Northern Ireland

NewsWithViews.com wrote on March 28:

“Every now and then, an unassuming character of quiet strength and integrity comes into the limelight, and the world once more watches the unjust, and uncalled for battle of good versus evil.

“Daniel McArthur, General Manager of Asher Baking Company, Northern Ireland, which is a small family business operating for 23 years, is one such man, who along with his family have become the latest target of inequality accusations, after the bakery politely turned down the commission of a wedding cake, when it was discovered it was ordered to bear the inscription ‘support gay marriage’.

“Mr McArthur, a committed Christian, has stated that they have declined other requests in the past, where customers wanted bad language or lewd images, decorating their cakes. However, on this occasion, when he declined to promote another contradictory statement to his faith, he promptly received a letter from the Equality Commission, stating they would be seeking compensation from him on the grounds of discrimination against the customer. He was ordered to pay damages within one week.

“He joins a growing number of people in the workplace who have all been hounded and persecuted, not for any attack they have made on another, but for quietly living according to their conscience. Many have lost their jobs.”

As it is so often the case in history, minorities who might have been persecuted in the past are now becoming persecutors.

The Dark Side of Germany’s Co-Pilot Murdering 149 Innocent People

Reuters reported on March 28:

“The co-pilot suspected of deliberately crashing a passenger plane in the French Alps told his girlfriend he was in psychiatric treatment, and that he was planning a spectacular gesture that everyone would remember, the German daily Bild reported on Saturday. The newspaper published an interview with a woman who said she had had a relationship in 2014 with Andreas Lubitz… ‘When I heard about the crash, I remembered a sentence, over and over again, that he said,’ the woman, a 26-year-old flight attendant… told Bild.

“‘“One day I’ll do something that will change the system, and then everyone will know my name and remember it.”… He did it because he realized that, due to his health problems, his big dream of working at Lufthansa, of a having job as a pilot, and as a pilot on long-distance flights, was nearly impossible… He never talked much about his illness, only that he was in psychiatric treatment,’ she told the paper, adding they finally broke up because she was afraid of him. ‘He would suddenly freak out in conversations and yell at me,’ she recalled. ‘At night he would wake up screaming “we are crashing” because he had nightmares. He could be good at hiding what was really going on inside him.’

“German authorities said on Friday they had found torn-up sick notes showing that the co-pilot was suffering from an illness that should have grounded him on the day of the tragedy. Germanwings, the budget airline of the flag carrier Lufthansa, has said he had not submitted any sick note at the time…”

According to Welt Online, Lubitz suffered from a severe psychosomatic illness, and investigators found several medications in his home. In addition, according to the New York Times, Lubitz “sought treatment for vision problems that may have jeopardized his ability to continue working as a pilot.”

Daily Mail added: “The disclosures will raise more questions for Lufthansa, the parent company of Germanwings, as to how he was allowed to fly a passenger jet when he was known to suffer from depression – and to have suffered burnout and mental illness. Unusually, Lubitz’s file with the German Civil Aviation Authority had been ‘flagged’ with the warning that he needed regular psychological assessment before being allowed to continue to fly.”

It is indeed almost incomprehensible to believe that Germanwings and its parent company, Lufthansa, did not know or that they shouldn’t have known about Lubitz’s dangerous state of health.

Hillary Clinton’s Email Nightmare

The Associated Press reported on March 27:

“Hillary Clinton wiped her email server ‘clean,’ permanently deleting all emails from it, the chairman of a House committee investigating the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, said Friday. Rep. Trey Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican, said the former secretary of state has failed to produce a single new document in recent weeks and has refused to relinquish her server to a third party for an independent review, as Gowdy has requested…

“The Benghazi committee demanded further documents and access to the server after it was revealed that Clinton used a private email account and server during her tenure at State… Here is what the committee’s statement said: ‘… We learned today, from her attorney, Secretary Clinton unilaterally decided to wipe her server clean and permanently delete all emails from her personal server. While it is not clear precisely when Secretary Clinton decided to permanently delete all emails from her server, it appears she made the decision after October 28, 2014, when the Department of State for the first time asked the Secretary to return her public record to the Department.

“‘Not only was the Secretary the sole arbiter of what was a public record, she also summarily decided to delete all emails from her server, ensuring no one could check behind her analysis in the public interest…’”

Hillary Clinton is also in hot water—not only because former President Bill Clinton’s controversial history of having committed adultery and perjury under oath—but also because her son-in-law, Eaglevale’s hedge fund manager Marc Mezvinsky, has now been accused of having engaged in controversial business transactions, according to Bild Online, the New York Times, and the Washington Times, dated March 25.

The Washington Times wrote:

“The latest Clinton saga — this is from the scandal machine that keeps on giving — was revealed this week by The New York Times. Marc Mezvinsky, husband of Chelsea, has apparently used his inside track with his in-laws to attract investments to Eaglevale, the hedge fund he co-founded and manages. Several wealthy Wall Street friends of his mother-in-law, who have contributed to her presidential campaign, have become Mr. Mezvinsky’s investors, too.

“There’s apparently nothing jail-y or even unethical. So far. But it’s curious and maybe a conflict of interest when mother-in-law is running for president. It may be only the reckless gamble of a cocky young man…”

Politics is such a predictably dirty business. And political GOP candidates are known to “change their views,” when it is convenient for them, to gain more votes. Just listing two recent examples, Ted Cruz fought Obamacare, pledging to “kill” it, until now, when he signed up for it. Rand Paul has consistently advocated the decrease in military spending, until now, when he asked for an increase of 190 billion dollars. And so the list of flip-flopping candidates goes on and on…

Russia Threatens Nuclear Response

The Independent wrote on April 2:

“Russia has threatened to use ‘nuclear force’ to defend its annexation of Crimea and warned that the ‘same conditions’ that prompted it to take military action in Ukraine exist in the three Baltic states, all members of Nato.

“According to notes made by an American at a meeting between Russian generals and US officials – and seen by The Times newspaper – Moscow threatened a ‘spectrum of responses from nuclear to non-military’ if Nato moved more forces into Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

“The Russians told the meeting, which took place in Germany last month, that an attempt to return Crimea to Ukraine would be met ‘forcefully including through the use of nuclear force’.”

Russia’s continuing belligerence is receiving a much more attentive ear in Europe than in the U.S., and leaders in the European Union are being forced to respond by turning to their own resources for a much stronger home-grown military capability.

The Danger of Tactical Nuclear Weapons and NATO’S Nuclear-Armed Members

Hoover.org reported on March 25:

“A US government study recently concluded that a 10-kiloton nuclear bomb detonated by terrorists a few blocks north of the White House would kill 45,000 people and leave 323,000 wounded. That bomb would be less powerful than most tactical nuclear weapons (TNW) now sitting in European storage bunkers. What is even more alarming: TNW are smaller and more portable, making them inviting targets for terrorists.

“TNW were originally deployed by NATO and Russia during the Cold War to reduce risks—in this case, a war on the European continent. There has never been much transparency or regulation associated with these deployments. Neither NATO nor Russia provides information on their number or location throughout Europe. So NATO and Russian publics have little information with which to assess the risks or benefits associated with their continued deployment…

“In April 2010, General James E. Cartwright, who at the time was vice chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, made clear his view that these weapons do not serve a military function… former senator Sam Nunn wrote in 2011 that… TNW are more of a security risk than an asset to both NATO and Russia…

“While NATO as an international organization does not possess nuclear weapons, its claim to be a nuclear alliance is based on the willingness of its nuclear-armed members to make their own weapons available to NATO for deterrence and defense. All of the United Kingdom’s ­submarine-based nuclear weapons are formally assigned to NATO, except where the UK may decide that its supreme national interests are at stake. France’s nuclear weapons, while not assigned to NATO, ‘contribute to the overall deterrence and security of the Allies.’ (France is not a member of NATO’s nuclear structure.) While there is no formal consensus on the extent to which US nuclear forces are assigned to NATO, America’s TNW are often assumed to be; they have remained deployed in Europe under nuclear sharing arrangements with NATO members for decades…

“Data from various non-governmental sources indicate that the United States currently deploys somewhere between 150 and 240 air-delivered nuclear weapons (B61 gravity bombs) that are deliverable by NATO aircraft (F-15s, F-16s, and Tornados) at six air force bases in five countries…”

Ukraine in an Almost Impossible Situation

Business Insider wrote on March 27:

“Russia will not negotiate delaying repayment over its $3 billion (£2 billion) loan to Ukraine that is due in December… This leaves the Ukrainian government in an almost impossible situation — either try to change Russian minds, convince the IMF to shift the conditions of its already contentious bailout package (it is highly unusual to provide funds to countries undergoing a civil war), or seek to inflict even deeper losses on private bondholders.

“The $3 billion loan was negotiated in 2013 by the previous government under President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled the country following huge anti-government protests on the streets of the Ukrainian capital Kiev. It stipulated that Ukraine had to keep its national debt below 60% of its GDP — a condition that the country has clearly breached as a civil war has hammered state finances and driven the country into a deep recession.

“This has given Moscow the ability to recall the loan whenever it sees fit, acting as a sword of Damocles over the head of the authorities in Kiev.”

Putin Guilty of Hypocrisy, Saudi Arabia Says

Reuters wrote on March 29:

“Saudi Arabia accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of hypocrisy on Sunday, telling an Arab summit that he should not express support for the Middle East while fuelling instability by supporting Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. In a rare move, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced that a letter from Putin would be read out to the gathering in Egypt, where Arab leaders discussed an array of regional crises, including conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Libya…

“Relations between Saudi Arabia and Russia have been cool over Moscow’s support for Assad, whom Riyadh opposes. The civil war between Assad’s forces and rebels has cost more than 200,000 lives in four years… The Saudi rebuke may have been awkward for summit host Egypt, which depends heavily on billions of dollars in support from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab allies, but has also improved ties with Moscow.

“In February, Putin received a grand welcome in Egypt, signaling a rapprochement.”

Arabs Want to Form Joint Military Force

AFP wrote on March 29:

“Arab leaders agreed on Sunday to form a joint military force after a summit dominated by a Saudi-led offensive on Shiite rebels in Yemen and the threat from Islamist extremism. Arab representatives will meet over the next month to study the creation of the force and present their findings to defence ministers within four months, according to the resolution adopted by the leaders…

“The decision was mostly aimed at fighting jihadists who have overrun swathes of Iraq and Syria and secured a foothold in Libya, Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said ahead of the summit. On Sunday, Arabi told the meeting the region was threatened by a ‘destructive’ force that threatened ‘ethnic and religious diversity’, in an apparent reference to the Islamic State group.”

The New York Times added on March 29:

“The Arab states said on Sunday that they had agreed to form a combined military force to counter both Iranian influence and Islamist extremism, a gesture many analysts attributed in large part to their drive for more independence from Washington.

“The agreement came as American and other Western diplomats in Lausanne, Switzerland, were racing to beat a self-imposed deadline of Tuesday to reach a deal with Iran that would restrict its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of economic sanctions. In response, Saudi Arabia and other American allies in the region have made clear that they are seeking to bolster independent regional security measures because they see the proposed accord as a betrayal of Washington’s commitment to their security.

“Regardless of Iran’s nuclear program, they complain, the deal would do nothing to stop Iran from seeking to extend its influence around the region by backing favored factions, as it has done in Lebanon, Iraq, Bahrain and Yemen.

“Many of the Arab states, including Egypt, Jordan and most of the Gulf monarchies, have thrown their support behind a Saudi Arabia-led campaign of airstrikes to counter advances by the Iranian-backed Houthi movement in Yemen; Washington is providing only intelligence and logistical support, but Saudi Arabia is leading the bombing while Egypt, with the largest Arab army, has pledged to send ground troops ‘if necessary’…”

Nuclear Agreement With Iran “Worse Than Feared”

Thomson/Reuters wrote on March 29:

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned on Sunday the framework Iranian nuclear agreement being sought by international negotiators, saying it was even worse than his country had feared. Israel has mounted what it terms an ‘uphill battle’ against an agreement that might ease sanctions on the Iranians while leaving them with a nuclear infrastructure with bomb-making potential. Tehran says its nuclear program is peaceful.”

AFP added:

“[Netanyahu] said the ‘Iran-Lausanne-Yemen axis’ was ‘dangerous for all of humanity’ and that combined with Tehran’s regional influence, a nuclear deal could allow Iran to ‘conquer’ the Middle East.”

An Arab joint military force (without and in defense against Iran) might prevent any (further) Iranian occupation of the Middle East. At the same time, American foreign policy is almost too incomprehensible and inconsistent as to make any sense. While America tries to strike a deal with Iran, it supports the fight against Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen, while supporting the fight against Iranian-opposed Sunni radicals (IS) while supporting both Sunni and Shiite rebels against Syria’s Assad, while antagonizing Israel…

Washington Lacks Sympathy For Its Partners and Friends

Foreign Policy wrote on March 30:

“As a March 31 deadline looms in the negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, the United States and France, two strong allies, have found themselves increasingly at odds, at times quite publicly. While the White House has been pushing hard for consensus on the framework for a deal ahead of the deadline, Paris has been pushing back…

“Relations between Paris and Washington have been tainted with suspicion ever since Syria used chemical weapons in August 2013 and Obama failed to enforce his ‘red line.’…

“Paris is in good company, alongside many of Washington’s traditional allies in the region, including the Gulf states, Israel, and Turkey, which have all felt shunted aside in the interest of reconciliation with Iran…

“Behind the Iran nuclear talks hovers the question of the future and shape of American power and leadership. For a decade, European countries have worked on trying to rein in Iran’s nuclear program. France, like the other countries, has taken an economic hit in this effort, thanks to the sanctions regime. Now the view from Paris is of a Washington that seems to lack empathy and trust for its longtime friends and partners — more interested in making nice with Iran than looking out for its old allies.”

April Fool’s Day Deal with Iran?

Reuters wrote on April 1:

“Six world powers and Iran will meet again later on Wednesday in a bid to reach an outline accord reining in Tehran’s nuclear programme, after failing to agree [on] crucial details such as the lifting of U.N. sanctions by a Tuesday deadline.

“The negotiators ended talks in the Swiss city of Lausanne in the early hours of Wednesday and said they would reconvene later in the day, with Iran and Russia expressing optimism that an initial agreement was within reach…

“With Iran asserting its ‘nuclear rights’ and the United States threatening on Tuesday to abandon the negotiations, the talks have been bogged down on the issues of nuclear research, the lifting of U.N. sanctions and their restoration if Iran breaches the agreement.

“Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said negotiators had reached a general accord on ‘all key aspects’, according to Russia’s TASS news agency, while his Iranian counterpart said a draft agreement could be prepared on Wednesday.

“But a diplomat close to the talks denied that such an agreement had been reached…”

Controversial Deal With Iran Reached

The Associated Press reported on April 2:

“After marathon negotiations, the United States, Iran and five other world powers announced an agreement Thursday outlining limits on Iran’s nuclear program to block it from developing atomic weapons and directing negotiators toward a final accord this summer.

“The United States and Iran each hailed the framework, reached by weary but upbeat diplomats after a week of intense diplomacy in Switzerland that capped 18 months of negotiations. Speaking from the White House, President Barack Obama called it a ‘good deal’ that would address concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

“Crucially for the Iranians, it also would provide them broad relief over time from international sanctions that have crippled their economy. Still, critics in both nations as well as wary U.S. allies Israel and Saudi Arabia were likely to oppose the ‘plan of action’ because of concessions allowing Iran to maintain significant elements of a program that could be used to produce either energy or nuclear arms…

“Negotiators from the nations involved — including Russia and China — will now start writing the text of a final accord…”

Iran Deal Complete Capitulation of the West

Breitbart wrote on April 3:

“The P5+1 powers have, as expected, reached a ‘framework agreement’ on a nuclear deal with Iran. And, as suspected, the agreement allows Iran to retain its enrichment facility at an underground bunker. It also allows Iran to maintain a small amount of enriched uranium, and will offer the regime sanctions relief as soon as it can show it is keeping its end of the bargain…

“The deal is a near-complete capitulation by President Barack Obama… Obama taunted his critics, saying that a deal was surely better than war, which he suggested was the only alternative.

“But the question at stake is not whether there will be war with Iran. There already is. Iran’s Houthi proxies ousted a government in Yemen that had provided the most important foundation for Obama’s policy of attacking Al Qaeda terrorists who threaten the United States. The Iranians are also propping up Bashar al-Assad in Syria, whom the Obama administration is at least theoretically committed to deposing. And though it is fighting ISIS in Iraq, Iran is taking over what the U.S. once defended.

“The question, simply, is not whether there will be war, but whether Iran will be able to obtain a nuclear weapon. And while President Obama promised Thursday that the framework agreement closes off all paths to a bomb, that is simply not true. Iran maintains a significant amount of control over international inspections. It has been forgiven for its past cheating, and allowed to maintain significant nuclear assets. And it may have other secret nuclear facilities, including military ones yet unknown.

“The negotiations took place as if in a vacuum, separate from the role Iran is playing in the region—as if its ongoing “non-negotiable” pledges to destroy Israel did not matter, as if Iran were not supervising the slaughter of innocents in Syria, or trying to bomb an embassy in Uruguay….

“There is only one way to close off Iran’s path to a bomb, and that is to depose the regime. The region wants them gone. The Iranian people want them gone. And the mullahs nearly were gone, six years ago. But Obama preserved them by refusing to intervene on behalf of the pro-democracy movement. He preserved the Ayatollahs for this moment, for the gesture of a grand bargain….”

“Obama’s Revenge”—“US Declassifies Report Detailing Israel’s Nuke Program”

Newsmax reported on March 26:

The U.S. government has chosen to declassify a top secret document that pulls the lid off Israel’s nuclear weapons program… It is believed to be the first time the U.S. has publicly acknowledged Israel has nuclear arms. The 386-page document provides a detailed breakdown of how Israel developed nuclear weapons in the 1970s and 1980s.

“Israel is ‘developing the kind of codes which will enable them to make hydrogen bombs…’ reads the report… [saying that] Israel was ‘reaching the ability to create bombs considered a thousand times more powerful than atom bombs’ in the 1980s.

“The document also says Israel’s nuclear research laboratories ‘are equivalent to [the United States’] Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore and Oak Ridge National Laboratories.’ ‘As far as nuclear technology is concerned the Israelis are roughly where the U.S. was in the fission weapon field in about 1955 to 1960,’ reads the document…

“In the section about Israel, the report details the nation’s several weapons programs, complete with charts and pictures that depict weapons systems. The report was written by the Institute for Defense Analysis, an agency working in tandem with the Pentagon.”

Obama a Modern Haman and Chamberlain?

The Jerusalem Post wrote on March 29:

“Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, chief rabbi of Efrat, on Saturday night compared US President Barack Obama to Haman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Mordechai. Speaking at the Jerusalem Great Synagogue, the American-born Riskin said that he could not understand what was going through Obama’s mind. ‘The president of the United States is lashing out at Israel just like Haman lashed out at the Jews,’ he said… Just as Mordechai was focused on saving the Jews of Persia from destruction, he said, so Netanyahu is focused on saving Israel and the world from destruction…

“Riskin drew an analogy between the conquest of Babylonia by ancient Persia and the armed conflict between Iran and Iraq. In relation to Iran, he said that the only difference between Iran and the Islamic State was who would be using power to control the world…

“Riskin was not the only prominent rabbi to criticize Obama over the weekend for his diplomatic policies. The World Values Network, founded and run by American rabbi and public figure Shmuley Boteach, took out a full page advertisement in The New York Times on Saturday comparing the deal being drawn up with Iran on its nuclear project to the Munich Agreement signed in 1938 by British prime minister Neville Chamberlain with Adolf Hitler, widely seen as an act of appeasement that emboldened the Nazi leader.

“The Times ad bore a picture of a pensive-looking Obama with an inset picture of Chamberlain holding aloft a copy of the Munich Agreement that he infamously declared to represent ‘peace for our time,’ just 11 months before Hitler ordered the invasion of Poland marking the beginning of the World War II.

“The ad described Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a ‘terror overlord’ and a ‘Hitler-wannabe,’ and said that the deal being discussed with Iran would ‘enable the world’s foremost sponsor of terror to become a nuclear power.’

“It called on Obama to demand that Khamenei personally and publicly repudiate his threats against Israel, that Iran cease support for terrorist groups and for the US president not to approve a deal that ‘allows the potentially catastrophic one-year-weapons-breakout period, which endangers Israel, the Middle East, America and the world.’”

Netanyahu Has His Work Cut out for Him

JTA wrote on March 20:

“When Netanyahu said on Monday that he wouldn’t allow a Palestinian state on his watch, supporters saw it as an honest and sensible assessment of the lessons Israel has drawn from the upheaval that radical Islam has brought to the Arab world… He clarified his position (or backtracked, depending on your view) in an MSNBC interview Thursday, saying he supports ‘a sustainable, peaceful, two-state solution — but for that, circumstances have to change.’

“This view holds currency across the Israeli political spectrum… After what happened with Gaza and Lebanon following Israel’s withdrawals, polls show few Israelis believe it’s possible right now to cede West Bank territory without it becoming a staging ground for attacks.

“… with the ascendance of radical Islamists in the Arab world, rising anti-Semitism in Europe, deep unease about the emerging nuclear deal with Iran and a growing sense of diplomatic isolation in Israel, the right-wing parties — and Likud in particular — were able to capitalize on Israeli fears. Whether Netanyahu’s premiership will be seen as having improved Israel’s security or imperiled it may ultimately depend on how history unfolds… What’s clear is that with Israel facing threats on multiple fronts, including myriad domestic challenges and a crisis in relations with the U.S. president, Netanyahu has his work cut out for him.”

US-Israel Tensions Deepen

The New York Times wrote on March 20:

“The White House is stepping up its antagonism toward Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu despite his victory in this week’s elections, signaling that it is in no rush to repair a historic rift between the United States and Israel… In a congratulatory call to Mr. Netanyahu on Thursday that Mr. Obama waited two days to place, the president chided the prime minister for his pre-election declaration that no Palestinian state would be established on his watch.

“Although Mr. Netanyahu has since tried to backtrack on those comments, Mr. Obama said that they had nonetheless forced his administration to reassess certain aspects of its policy toward Israel… The schism has exacerbated tension between the White House and the most powerful American pro-Israel group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, with which sitting presidents have traditionally been in lock step. Aipac, which like Mr. Netanyahu is vehemently opposed to the emerging nuclear agreement with Iran, on Friday said the onus was on the White House to repair the breach.”

The Huffington Post wrote on March 21:

“Obama declined to say whether the United States would continue to block Palestinian efforts to secure statehood through the United Nations…”

Israel United Against US Criticism of Netanyahu

The New York Times wrote on March 24:

“… many… Israelis have been astonished by the unrelenting White House criticism that has helped sink relations between Washington and Jerusalem to a nadir not seen for more than 25 years. Even some who mainly blame Mr. Netanyahu for antagonizing President Obama over the last six years now see the scales flipped… Mr. Obama showed no signs Tuesday of softening his stance on Mr. Netanyahu’s momentary disavowal of the two-state solution that has long been the cornerstone of American policy…

“Israeli analysts are now suggesting that Mr. Obama and his aides might be overplaying their hand, inviting a backlash of sympathy for Mr. Netanyahu, and that they may not have clearly defined what they expected to gain diplomatically by continuing to pressure the Israeli leader. The president’s harsh words have been deemed by some to be patronizing and disrespectful not only to Mr. Netanyahu but also to the voters who rewarded his uncompromising stances with a resounding mandate for a fourth term.

“Several Israeli analysts said the administration’s criticism of Mr. Netanyahu seemed like a pretext for a longstanding plan to change the United States’ policy of protecting Israel in international forums, which the administration has said it will reassess. Others suspect a ploy to undermine Israel’s lobbying efforts against the American negotiations for a nuclear accord with Iran.

“The rift widened further on Tuesday with a Wall Street Journal report in which administration officials accused Israeli officials of spying on the closed-door negotiations with Iran and sharing secret details about them with Congress and journalists. Three top Israeli ministers vehemently denied the report. Several congressional Republicans said they had received no such information, and those in Mr. Netanyahu’s close circle said it seemed like more poisoning of dirty waters…

“In contrast with the White House, leading Israeli voices seem to have accepted Mr. Netanyahu’s post-election clarification that current circumstances make it impossible to imagine meeting his longstanding conditions for supporting a Palestinian state…

“As for Washington, the Obama administration’s rethinking of its policy on protecting Israel in the United Nations and other international forums may not be as simple as it sounds. The White House is likely to want any United Nations Security Council resolution on the two-state solution to include Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, something the Palestinians have roundly refused. And Republicans have already threatened to cut off United Nations funding if President Obama supports such a resolution.

“‘The very tough thing for the administration to explain to itself is, “What is the actual strategy?”’ said Nathan Thrall of the International Crisis Group. ‘O.K., so you’ve passed a Security Council resolution, both sides say they reject it, so what do you do and what have you achieved? It’s going to be a big headache to get it done, you’re going to expend a bunch of diplomatic effort, and for what? The arguments that you hear in favor of doing it is that Obama would leave a legacy.’

“Right now, that legacy includes the lowest point in the alliance that diplomatic sages can recall… ‘Obama and his team had assembled this rage over several months or maybe a few years, and now it’s all coming out,’ added Mr. Rabinovich, no fan of Mr. Netanyahu. ‘I think they are overdoing it. I think they are ignoring the complexity of Israeli politics. I think Netanyahu would like to make amends, but if Obama doesn’t want to make amends, the fight will continue.’”

It seems, whatever the Obama Administration is trying to do is predestined to failure.

Turmoil in Yemen

The Associated Press reported on March 26:

“Saudi Arabia began airstrikes Wednesday against Houthi rebel positions in Yemen, vowing that the Sunni kingdom will do ‘anything necessary’ to restore a deposed government that has been routed by the Iranian-backed group…

“The White House said Wednesday night that President Barack Obama has authorized logistical and intelligence support to the military operations…

“The Saudi strikes were the latest in a series of fast moving developments in Yemen… Driven weeks ago from the capital by the Houthis, U.S.- and Saudi-backed Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi abandoned the country Wednesday.

“… the reality is that the capital and some of the country’s main cities already have fallen to the [rebel] group, and ground troops will be required to take them back.”

Majority of Germans Trust in the Euro

The Local wrote on March 24:

“A survey published on Tuesday shows that German public trust in the single currency has risen sharply over the last two years to hit 57 percent… In Germany, the sharp rise in trust in the Euro made it the fifth most respected public institution… It has now been established in the public mind that the worst fantasies of the media will not come true and the Eurozone will indeed stay together.”

Insane Mass Murder 

Deutsche Welle reported on March 26:

“German authorities have searched two residences of Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz (28). Investigators believe Lubitz deliberately crashed flight 4U9525 into a mountain, killing all 150 people on board… locking himself in the cockpit and adjusting the altitude setting on the plane. This is a conclusion reached through audio recordings from one of the downed plane’s black boxes… The audio appears to show the captain, who left the cabin briefly, presumably to use the restroom, trying to force his way back in.”

The Local added on March 26:

“If this theory is officially confirmed in the days to come it will realise one of the greatest fears of both airlines and passengers alike and raise serious questions about security on board airplanes…

“If Lubitz did deliberately fly the passengers to their deaths, it would not be the first time a pilot has acted in such a devastating way.

“In 2013 a Mozambican airlines flight is believed to have crashed for a similar reason, as did a SilkAir flight in 1997 in Indonesia and an Egyptair plane in 1999, that had 217 people on board, although in this case the pilot suicide theory is disputed…”

Russia Warns Denmark of Nuclear Attack… Baltic States Worried

The Telegraph wrote on March 21:

“Russia has gone on the offensive in the Baltic… ‘I don’t think that Danes fully understand the consequence if Denmark joins the American-led missile defence shield. If they do, then Danish warships will be targets for Russian nuclear missiles,’ said Mikhail Vanin, the Russian ambassador to Denmark, to the Jyllands-Posten newspaper. ‘Denmark would be part of the threat against Russia. It would be less peaceful and relations with Russia will suffer…’

“Denmark’s Foreign minister, Martin Lidegaard, reacted strongly to the comments…  ‘If that is what he has said, then it is unacceptable. Russia knows full well that Nato’s missile defence is defensive and not targeted at (Russia)…

“In follow up statements that will worry the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in particular, Mr Vanin went on to say that from being one of the most peaceful parts of the world a year ago, the Baltic is now ‘one of the most unpredictable in the world’.

“Germany, Poland, Lithuania, the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden and Denmark all border the Baltic Sea. Six of them are Nato states. The three formerly Soviet Baltic states, now all members of Nato and the European Union, have repeatedly expressed their concern at their own situation, not least because as with Ukraine, both Estonia and Latvia in particular have large Russian populations and fear Russian encroachments…”

Doomsday Closer Than We Think?

The Jerusalem Post wrote on March 22:

“With most of the world’s focus on the Iran nuclear negotiations, little attention has been paid to a complete breakdown in the push to limit nuclear weapons proliferation on a scale not seen in years.

“Analysts may be correct that a deal which leaves Iran as a nuclear weapons ‘threshold state’ – or a state which has mastered the skills for making nuclear weapons and need only decide to produce one – may expand a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, involving Saudi Arabia, Egypt and others…

“The next most obvious problem is North Korea, which is estimated to have somewhere between six to 10 nuclear bombs. It is also continuing to produce new ones and is likely, based on its information exchanges and mutual visits with Iran in recent years, to be illegally sharing its technology with other dangerous new countries that may produce nuclear weapons.

“The increasing North Korean threat along with China’s fast-expanding conventional and nuclear forces may cause a new nuclear arms race, with Japan and South Korea finally joining in. Those countries may decide they can no longer rely on US protection alone…

“China’s potential new ability to launch a second or retaliatory nuclear strike against the US from its harder-to-attack mobile weapons sites and submarines mean the US would need to think much harder about intervening to protect its Asian allies from Chinese adventurism.

“Pakistan is another obvious problem, though with its already built nuclear weapons arsenal – estimated at 100 to 120 – it strangely receives far less attention than Iran…

‘But all of these threats may pale in comparison to the return of the Russian nuclear behemoth… As Russia more directly butts heads with the US and Europe, will its nuclear power status allow it to restore its old empire beyond parts of Ukraine? Will the US and Europe need to restore their Cold War military levels of preparedness to fend off a Russian attack? Could these broken-down relations lead Russia to be more aggressive in helping Tehran or even terror groups use smaller tactical nuclear weapons or gain nuclear technology in a new destabilizing fashion?…”

Interestingly, nobody seems to be focusing on a nuclear threat from Europe, even though the Bible clearly states that it will be Europe, under German leadership, which will end up fighting with the USA, the UK and Israel, and that Europe will destroy major American, British and Israeli cities, “laying them waste,” obviously through nuclear weapons (see our Q&A in this Update). From that standpoint, the following article is extremely important as it shows the utter lack of American willpower to defend against an enemy.

As the Bible has said, God will break the pride of America’s power (Leviticus 26:19), and even though America would get “ready” for  battle, God would not even allow them to fight. Ezekiel 7:7, 13-14, 17 speaks to the modern houses of Israel and Judah, warning:

“Doom has come to you, you who dwell in the land: The time has come, A day of trouble is near, And not of rejoicing in the mountains… the vision concerns the whole multitude, And it shall not turn back; No one will strengthen himself Who lives in iniquity. They have blown the trumpet and made everyone ready, But no one goes to battle; For My wrath is on all their multitude… Every hand will be feeble, And every knee will be as weak as water…”

America Defenseless Against Nuclear Attack

Forbes wrote on March 20:

“Russia has about 1,600 missile warheads capable of reaching U.S. territory, and if even a small fraction were launched, they could wipe out our electric grid, our financial networks, and quite possibly the whole U.S. economy…

“But this commentary isn’t about Russian military intentions. It is about the utter absence of U.S. active defenses for repulsing the sole man-made threat capable of wiping out American civilization for the foreseeable future.  Imagine every person you know dead, injured, or lacking shelter and sustenance.  Not at some dim point in the future, but by this time tomorrow.  Russia has that power, because America has no defenses against long-range ballistic missiles…

“Russia still has an assured capacity to obliterate America’s society and economy.  That isn’t going to change, because Moscow doesn’t trust Washington and nuclear weapons are its sole remaining claim to superpower status.

“… on the day deterrence fails, America’s highly capable strategic force will be little comfort because it can’t do anything to intercept incoming warheads.  All it can do is lay waste to Russia.

“The minimal defensive system the Obama Administration has sustained… can potentially intercept warheads attacking from any direction, but more than a dozen Russian warheads would overwhelm it.  So here we sit, able to detect a Russian launch almost immediately and retaliate with devastating force, but powerless to defend our homeland and loved ones from nuclear aggression.

“This is the kind of strategic myopia that eventually leads to catastrophe…”

Netanyahu Wins

Breitbart wrote on March 17:

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has… defied the mainstream media and the Obama administration with a stunning, come-from-behind victory in Israel’s elections on Tuesday. Netanyahu’s Likud Party had been projected to lose to Isaac Herzog’s Zionist Union by a margin of 26-22… Netanyahu is now expected to form a new governing coalition.”

JTA wrote on March 18:

“After weeks in which polls consistently showed Zionist Union holding a slight lead over the Likud Party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli leader effected a dramatic comeback to win a decisive victory in Israeli elections. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Netanyahu’s Likud had won 30 seats  — a quarter of the Knesset and six more than the Zionist Union’s 24.”

The Associated Press added on March 18 that Netanyahu is now “in a position to build with relative ease a coalition government with its nationalist, religious and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies.”

The Netanyahu Miracle–CNN Wrong Again

Breitbart wrote on March 17:

“All day long CNN has been relentlessly beating the drum and practically celebrating the forgone conclusion that sitting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was about to lose today’s elections. Every move Netanyahu made over the past few weeks that outraged Obama and his media allies was framed by CNN today as a blunder — from the speech he made before Congress to  sounding the alarm today about Israeli Leftists busing Arabs to the polls.

“CNN was quite obviously setting up a Narrative to explain and gloat over what polls said was almost certain to be a Netanyahu defeat. A funny thing happened at 4 pm ET when the exit polls from Israel came in. Netanyahu was tied or slightly ahead. An hour later news reports suggested Netanyahu had already cobbled together enough allies from other parties to form a governing coalition. This means he will remain Prime Minister. This is why he took to Twitter to declare victory.

“By 6pm, the biggest story in the world, and one of the biggest electoral upsets in recent memory, was no longer the biggest story on CNN. Despite all the domestic and international ramifications of Netanyahu’s almost certain victory, despite all the backfilling CNN had done all day to ‘explain’ Netanyahu’s defeat, Netanyahu’s upset did not lead CNN’s 6 pm hour with Wolf Blitzer. Netanyahu giving his victory speech  did not lead the 7 pm hour with Erin Burnett.

“At 6 pm and 7pm, CNN decided that the story of the night was … a single Air Force veteran trying to join ISIS. At around 7:10 pm, Burnett finally decided it was time to talk about the Israeli elections, and when she did she read a chyron that read, ‘Is Netanyahu About to Lose?’ Not ‘Too Close to Call.’ Not ‘Bibi Upset Victory?’ Nope. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, CNN stuck to its ‘about to lose’ narrative.

“Things got much worse. An obviously rattled Burnett came back from commercial and then went on to prove she knows absolutely nothing about how the Israeli government works. For some ignorant reason she is under the impression that a tie or something close to it means Netanyahu is weakened and will — this is a direct quote — ‘have to share a significant amount of power with Isaac Herzog.’…

“CNN isn’t alone. But CNN was the news outlet that had gone further out on a limb than any other in gambling big on a Netanyahu loss.

“As far as the rest of our unbiased, objective media, let me put it this way: All the planned and hotly anticipated ‘Did Bibi’s Speech to Congress Backfire?’ narratives and thought pieces will not be replaced with ‘Did Obama’s Meddling In the Israeli Elections Backfire?’ narratives and thought pieces. The media likely lost this one…”

No Palestinian State?

The EUObserver wrote on March 17:

“Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has said that if he is re-elected there will be no Palestinian state, putting in doubt the future of EU-Israel relations… his anti-Palestine comments pose fundamental questions for EU relations…

“EU diplomats are waiting for the US to restart talks in the final months of president Barack Obama’s second term in office. But the prevailing mood in Washington is that there’s no point if Netanyahu retains office, meaning the two-state idea would be put on hold for years to come… But without US engagement, neither EU restrictive measures nor diplomatic recognitions would change facts on the ground. The two-state solution, in any case, involves moving, by force, more than 110,000 Israeli settlers from East Jerusalem and the West Bank.”

Iran a Disruptive Player in the Arab World

BBC News reported on March 16:

“A senior member of the Saudi royal family has warned that a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme could prompt other regional states to develop atomic fuel. Prince Turki al-Faisal told the BBC that Saudi Arabia would then seek the same right, as would other nations…

“With a late March deadline for an Iran deal approaching, Saudi Arabia last week signed a nuclear co-operation agreement with South Korea that included a plan to study the feasibility of building two nuclear reactors in the kingdom. Riyadh has also signed nuclear co-operation agreements with China, France and Argentina, and intends to construct 16 nuclear power reactors over the next 20 years.

“The US Secretary of State, John Kerry, flew to Riyadh earlier this month to reassure Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab allies that America would not accept any deal unless it prevented Iran from building a nuclear weapon. He was told that they found Iran’s support for armed Shia Muslim groups in regional conflicts as troubling as the prospect of an atomic bomb. ‘Iran is already a disruptive player in various scenes in the Arab world, whether it’s Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Palestine, or Bahrain,’ said Prince Turki.”

The Other Side of Iran—Iranian Dissidents Lashing Out at Obama’s “Diplomacy”

The Washington Free Beacon wrote on March 17:

“A group of Iranian dissidents and political prisoners have lashed out at the Obama administration, lambasting its ongoing diplomacy with Iran, according to two open letters sent to the White House in recent days… In each letter, the dissidents—most of whom are currently political prisoners in Iran—criticize the White House for ignoring the issues of human rights and democracy in Iran as they push to finalize a deal with a regime that the dissidents says     is murderous and untrustworthy.

“Iranian reformers and those seeking a change in the country’s leadership say they do not view the agreement as representing the plurality of Iranians. ‘Any deal in which the real representatives of Iranian people are not present and human rights are ignored, is basically a deal between President Obama and Khamenei’s agents, and Iranian people will not consider it to be legal,’ 21 Iranian political prisoners wrote in an open letter to Obama…

“As the Obama administration negotiates with Iran, the Islamic Republic continues to execute scores of political prisoners and dissidents each day, the letter states. An American pastor, Saeed Abedini, also continues to be imprisoned in Iran. ‘In this chaos, Iranian people, human rights, and basic civil rights are absent without any representation,’ they write. ‘During President Obama’s negotiations for a profitable deal with the non-democratic Regime of Iran, the number of people executed increases every day; freedoms of speech, religion, women, and journalists are restricted more and more, and civil, labor, and political associations are suppressed heavily.’

“On Sunday, another Iranian dissident currently in jail for leading protests against the regime sent his own letter to Obama. Heshmat Tabarzadi says that the Obama administration has been ignoring human rights issues in order to placate the Islamic Republic in talks. ‘When the people of Iran asked you to support them against the tyranny of the Shia clerics over five years ago you, the president of the most powerful country on earth, were secretly writing letters to the dictator of Iran,’ he writes in the letter, which was smuggled out of Iran by human rights activists and provided to the Foundation for Democracy in Iran, an advocacy group.

“Obama’s outreach has only empowered Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, writes Tabarzadi, who says he shares a prison cell with Saeed Abedini. ‘In June 2009, as Khamenei ruthlessly ordered his paramilitary forces to kill people on the streets and on university campuses, imprisoning and torturing journalists, intellectuals, the young and the old mercilessly, your friendly communications with the tyrant of Iran continued in the name of the people of the United States, ignoring the human rights of the people of Iran,’ the letter states. ‘You helped Khamenei to continue his Islamic tyranny in the name of Allah and Islam… The Islamic clerics have taken our nation hostage to their fanatical Islamic tyranny…

“‘In 2009 when the people of Iran loudly and clearly asked for your support for their freedom and sovereignty, you ignored us and empowered the tyrants to imprison, torture, and kill us.’ Nations such as the United States should be supporting ‘the People of Iran, not the tyrants,’ according to Tabarzadi…  ‘You claim that the only choice that you have is either to make a deal with Khamenei—which I believe means surrender—or war,’ he states. ‘I dare say this claim is a form of misinformation and intimidation of the people of America… Please sanction and weaken the illegal regime of Khamenei, and empower the people to overthrow this tyranny… You know that you can support the people in many ways, such as giving us Internet access that the Khamenei regime cannot police. This would allow us to organize and rise up against these godless tyrants.’…

“Saeed Ghassiminejad, an Iranian dissident and expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said that the letters reflect growing frustration with the Obama administration among reform-minded Iranians… ‘[Obama] has shown that he does not care at all about human rights and democracy. Whether it is Cuba, Iran, or Syria he and his secretary of state are either neutral or on the side of dictators.’”

ISIS and Boko Haram Join Forces

Newsmax wrote on March 13:

“ISIS has declared its intention to ‘blow up your White House, Big Ben, and the Eiffel Tower,’ its official spokesman said in a new audio message [continuing] that the organization had accepted a pledge of allegiance from the Nigerian terror group Boko Haram… [The] ISIS spokesman… declared that Boko Haram’s move was ‘a new door opened by Allah’ and said jihadists should go to West Africa… [and that] ISIS wanted control of numerous cities across the globe, including Jerusalem, Kabul, Rome, and Paris.

“The ISIS spokesman warned Jews and Christians that they could either ‘convert to Islam or pay the ultimate price when your armies are expelled from Muhammad’s peninsula, from Jerusalem, and all Muslim lands.’”

Lost–$500 Million in US Military Aid Given to Yemen

The Washington Post wrote on March 17:

“The Pentagon is unable to account for more than $500 million in U.S. military aid given to Yemen amid fears that the weaponry, aircraft and equipment is at risk of being seized by Iranian-backed rebels or al-Qaeda, according to U.S. officials. With Yemen in turmoil and its government splintering apart, the Defense Department has lost its ability to monitor the whereabouts of U.S.-donated small arms, ammunition, night-vision goggles, patrol boats, vehicles and other supplies. The situation has grown worse since the United States closed its embassy in Sanaa, the capital, last month and withdrew many of its military advisers.

“In recent weeks, members of Congress have held closed-door meetings with U.S. military officials to press for an accounting of the arms and equipment. Pentagon officials have said they have little information to go on and that there is little they can do at this point to prevent the weapons and gear from falling into the wrong hands…

“Yemen’s government was toppled in January by Shiite Houthi rebels, who receive support from Iran and have strongly opposed U.S. drone strikes in Yemen. The Houthis have taken over many Yemeni military bases in the northern part of the country, including some in Sanaa that were home to U.S.-trained counterterrorism units. Other bases have been overrun by fighters from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula…”

Terror Attack on Tourists in Tunisia

Deutsche Welle reported on March 18:

“At least 19 people have been killed when militants attacked a popular museum in Tunisia’s capital, the prime minister confirmed. The attack was the country’s worst in nine years… Tunisian state television reported that two gunmen had died in the violence, but Prime Minister Essid said some of the terrorists could still be at large.

“Tourists from Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain were among those who lost their lives in Wednesday’s attack, the prime minister added. Another 22 tourists and two Tunisians were injured… The European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini condemned the attacks, blaming the ‘Islamic State’ (IS) militants, who were, according to her ‘once again targeting the countries and peoples of the Mediterranean region. This strengthens our determination to cooperate more closely with our partners to confront the terrorist threat,’ she said, adding that the EU was willing to ‘mobilize all the tools it has to fully support Tunisia in its fight against terrorism.’

“Gunmen opened fire on tourists as they were getting off buses outside Tunisia’s national museum on Wednesday, officials said. Many tourists remained inside the museum until security forces stormed in and killed the two militants. The attack dealt a huge blow to the small country which is still recovering from the political uprising, also known as the Arab Spring in 2011. Tunisia relies heavily on tourism from Europe and has tried to avoid terror attacks since leader Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali was ousted four years ago… Officials estimate that around 3,000 Tunisians have joined the ‘Islamic State’ in Syria and Iraq, raising fears that they may plan terror attacks at home.”

Deutsche Welle reported on March 19 that ISIS claimed responsibility for the abominable and cowardly terrorist attack, and that at least 20 people were killed. In an audio message, ISIS said that this was only the first drop of the rain.

Putin Was Willing to Use Nukes Over Crimea

AFP wrote on March 15:

“Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was ready to put the country’s nuclear forces on alert as he sought to annex Crimea last year after the fall of a Moscow-backed government in Kiev.

“In a nearly three-hour documentary aired on state TV in Russia on Sunday a year after the takeover of the Black Sea Peninsula from Ukraine, Putin showed the lengths he was willing to go to in order to protect Russian-speaking citizens of the province he considered a historic slice of Russia. The documentary, ‘Homeward Bound’, features interviews with Putin and reconstructions in which the Russian leader presents himself as the saviour of Crimea, forced to deploy elite troops to prevent a war with ‘nationalists’ who took power in Kiev… And unsure whether the West would intervene militarily to stop the annexation, he was ready to face ‘the worst possible turn of events.’”

Putin Does It Again

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 18:

“Russia tightened control over South Ossetia on Wednesday, when… Putin and his self-declared counterpart, Leonid Tibilov… signed the 25-year ‘Treaty on Alliance and Integration.’ The tiny mountainous region’s 50,000 inhabitants broke away from Georgia in the 1990s, and Russia effectively gained full control over it and a second secessionist territory, Abkhazia, after a brief war between the government and separatists in 2008, stationing troops there to preserve the peace. ‘This step made against the territorial integrity of a sovereign state further worsens the situation created as a result of the occupation and brings it to the level of an annexation,’ Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili said in a statement Wednesday…

“The treaty hands border control to Russia, which would also formally take charge of South Ossetia’s economy and military… ‘A joint defense and security zone will be created between our two countries, our customs agencies will be integrated, and border crossings for our citizens will become open,’ Putin said on Wednesday…

“On Wednesday, the European Union’s diplomacy chief said that the agreement undermined efforts to strengthen security and stability in the region. ‘This ‘treaty’ – which includes references to a transfer of powers in some areas – clearly violates Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,’ EU Foreign Policy coordinator Federica Mogherini said.”

“Putin Has Started a War, and Ten Million Could Die”

Express wrote on March 17:

“Vladimir Putin has started a war with the ‘whole civilised world’ which could leave ‘ten million people dead’. Polish statesman Lech Walesa made the ominous warning as the Russian President made clear he will deploy the nuclear-capable Tupolev bomber to annexed Crimea. The 62-year-old has also signalled his attentions to send Iskander surface-to-surface missile systems close to Poland’s border.
“The man who as a Gdansk trade union leader inspired the end of the Cold War accused the Kremlin leader of playing with fire… ‘He broke agreements, contracts, guarantees. The world cannot just leave it like this. If something like this happens, only force is left… If Russia takes a risk and attacks Poland and other countries… there will be a war… a million will be killed, ten million maybe’…

“World heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko echoed Mr Walesa, saying… ‘What is happening at the moment could set off a third World War… I think that the European community is sleeping. Putin is doing what he wants to… He will continue to march forward.’”

Russia’s Northern Fleet on Full Alert

CNN reported on March 17:

“As the U.S. and several Eastern European NATO countries conduct a series of military exercises near Russia’s border, Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his Northern Fleet ‘to full alert in a snap combat readiness exercise’ in the Arctic, state-run media reported Monday.

“… a Kremlin spokesman described the Northern Fleet inspection as routine practice aimed at improving military capabilities… Conversely, a diplomat told Tass that Russia was ‘deeply concerned’ about NATO drills near its border…”

Dangerous Putin and Helpless EU

The EUObserver wrote on March 16:

“Russian leader Vladimir Putin, in a pre-filmed interview, has said he was ready to use nuclear weapons if the West had tried to stop him seizing Crimea… He said he also deployed high-tech coastal defence missiles, which can be seen from space, to deter outside intervention.

“He added that he warned his Western counterparts he is prepared to go to war… Russian propaganda outlets have said it is capable of reducing the US to ‘radioactive ash’. Putin has also claimed he could conquer Kiev, Bucharest, and Warsaw ‘in two days’ by conventional means if he is provoked…

“But speaking to European media at the weekend, EU Council chief Donald Tusk noted how hard it is to maintain EU unity.  ‘A common policy of the 28 member states doesn’t exist. We have 28 different foreign policies’, he said.

“He noted he has little faith in the recent, so-called Minsk 2, ceasefire accord… He added that any EU leader who believes Putin is ready to make peace is guilty of ‘naivete or hypocrisy’.”

“A Pan-European Army with or Without American Help”

NBC News wrote on March 15:

“As conflicts worsen on NATO’s eastern borders, the case is being made for a pan-European army as commanders seek multinational ‘coalitions of force’ — with or without American help… ‘Europe must accept that the world regards the E.U. as more than just an economic union,’ Raimund Kirch, editor in chief of the Nürnberger Zeitung, wrote in an editorial. ‘Therefore, it must develop an independent moral and military power, in order to survive between the bi-polar forces.’…

‘‘This is not about having more influence in NATO,’ former German NATO general Harald Kujat told NBC News. ‘But the idea is that Europe wants to show “we must be more powerful” in light of the Ukraine crisis. NATO’s reaction time is too long because the Europeans have reduced the readiness status of their forces so much that they are, in practice, not available within the necessary time frame… the fact that the Europeans are not in a situation to defend their eastern allies in the Baltics and Poland without American support is shameful,’ said Kujat… ‘Germany spends about 1.3 percent of its GDP on the military. That’s not enough’…

“Stefan Soesanto, of the RAND research institute in Brussels, argues for an ‘enhanced interoperability among European soldiers’ which in the long term could also lead to more independence from American dominance within NATO.”

How Pope Francis Sees It

Breitbart wrote on March 13:

“In an exclusive interview Wednesday, the second anniversary of his election to the papacy, Pope Francis spoke on a wide range of topics, many of which revolved around Mexico. He said that ‘the devil doesn’t forgive Mexico because there [the Virgin Mary] revealed her Son,’ referring to the appearances of the Virgin of Guadalupe…

“‘I think the devil punishes Mexico fiercely.’… ‘Mexico… is privileged in martyrdom, for recognizing and defending its Mother… You will find Catholics, non-Catholics, and atheists in Mexico, but they are all ‘guadalupanos.’ That is, everyone feels like her child. Children of the one who brought the Savior, who destroyed the devil.’”

Reuters reported on March 13:

“Pope Francis said in an interview published on Friday he believes his pontificate will be short and that he would be ready to resign like his predecessor [Pope Benedict] rather than ruling for life… ‘I have the feeling that my pontificate will be brief – four or five years, even two or three. Two have already passed. It’s a somewhat strange sensation,’ he said… ‘I feel that the Lord has placed me here for a short time…”

The Associated Press added on March 13:

“Francis announced a special Jubilee Year starting Dec. 8 [and ending November 26, 2016] to focus the church on forgiveness and mercy. It’s only the 27th time in the history of the Catholic Church that there has been a Holy Year. [The first one was in 1300] The last one was called by St. John Paul II in 2000 to mark the start of the third millennium.

“Holy Years allow the faithful to receive special indulgences, ways to repair the damage of sin beyond the absolution granted by going to confession. The year begins with the symbolic opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica.”

These are interesting developments. If Francis steps down soon or if he dies, it would be quite important to see who the next pope would be… and how he would view things. Would he be another more “liberally” minded pope, or a conservative follower of Catholic Church doctrine? In addition, Francis’ comments regarding Mexico show the fascination with the “Virgin Mary”—regardless of the religious convictions of the Mexicans. In fact, it may be the symbol and “appearances” of the “Virgin Mary” which might bring about strong collaboration between the Catholic Church and other religious groups believing in apparitions of Mary… such as Greek and Russian Orthodox believers and many Muslims. The Bible warns against such “visions and dreams”—since they are not Godly in any way. For more information, please read our free booklets, “Do We Have an Immortal Soul?”, “Angels, Demons and the Spirit World” and “The Mysteries of the Book of Revelation.”

The Catholicism of Jeb Bush

The New York Times wrote on March 17:

“Twenty years after Mr. Bush converted to Catholicism, the religion of his wife, following a difficult and unsuccessful political campaign that had put strain on his marriage, his faith has become a central element of the way he shapes his life and frames his views on public policy…

“Many of his priorities during his two terms as governor of Florida aligned with those of the Catholic Church — including his extraordinary, and unsuccessful, effort to force a hospital to keep Terri Schiavo on life support, as well as less well known, and also unsuccessful, efforts to appoint a guardian for the fetus of a developmentally disabled rape victim, and to prevent a 13-year-old girl from having an abortion…

“He differed from his church, significantly and openly, over capital punishment; 21 prisoners were executed by the state on his watch, the most under any Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. But he has also won praise from Catholic officials for his welcoming tone toward immigrants, and his relatively centrist positions on education — two issues in which he is at odds with the right wing of his party…

“The son and brother of Protestant presidents, Mr. Bush, if elected, would be the nation’s second Catholic president. He carries a rosary in his pocket, fingering its beads at moments of crisis, is a member of the Knights of Columbus and has retweeted Pope Francis. He was part of the American delegation to the installation of Pope Benedict XVI, and during his travels in the United States he sometimes attends Mass in local churches…

“Mr. Bush is not the first Catholic in his family. His great-grandfather George Herbert Walker was a Jesuit-educated Roman Catholic. But Mr. Walker married a Presbyterian and joined her church, a pattern that would be repeated multiple times in Mr. Bush’s family tree. George Bush, the former president, joined the Episcopal Church of his wife, Barbara; George W. Bush joined the United Methodist Church of his wife, Laura…

“Mr. Bush was officially received into the Catholic Church at the Easter vigil of 1995, making a profession of faith and being anointed with oil before receiving Communion for the first time as a Catholic… He has also suggested that concerns about the Episcopal Church, which has moved steadily to the left on social issues and liturgical matters, played a role in his decision…

“Mr. Bush is now courting Protestant leaders as well, presenting himself as a man of faith who understands the concerns of religious voters…”

Is Obama Trying to Stop Clinton?

Newsmax wrote on March 17:

“President Barack Obama definitely knew that Hillary Clinton was using a private email account as secretary of state — and he cautioned her not to, veteran political journalist Edward Klein told Newsmax TV.  ‘According to State Department, White House, and Clinton sources — three separate sources — the president of the United States was … aware she was using a private server, a private email,’ Klein said… ‘And either he or his people told her and warned her not to.’…

“Klein called Clinton’s apparent skipping of a separation agreement, requiring her to return all government documents when she left the State Department, a ‘classic Clinton avoidance.’ ‘She knew what she was doing when she used the server to begin with, which meant that nobody could get it,’ he said. ‘And … when she was asked or knew she was supposed to sign a separation agreement, she didn’t because that separation agreement requires you to then turn over all your emails to the State Department.’

“Last week, Klein said the Obama administration ‘is up to its eyebrows in efforts to stop’ Clinton from running for the White House — including six investigations launched by longtime presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett involving Clinton’s years as Secretary of State. ‘This administration… will do virtually anything to prevent Hillary from becoming president,’ Klein [said]. ‘It’s their view that if she does become president — like her husband, Bill — she will govern from the left of center and not be a true liberal,’ Klein said, ‘and will, therefore, compromise with Republicans like Bill did when he was in office, and will undo a lot of the Obama legacy. They are determined to stop her — and of course, it’s not going to be easy,’ he said.”

Danger Alert–Voting to Become Mandatory in the USA?

The Associated Press reported on March 19:

“President Barack Obama is floating the idea of making it mandatory to vote in the United States… He says the U.S. should be making it easier — not harder — to vote.

“The president is noting that countries like Australia have mandatory voting. He says if everyone voted in the U.S., it would completely change the political map… Obama says it would be ‘transformative’ and would counteract the influence of money in politics more than anything else.”

One of the many problems with (mandatory) voting is that there are NO qualified candidates to vote for.

Religious Confusion of Americans and Jews

Times of Israel wrote on March 18:

“An Idaho state senator’s description of Hinduism as ‘a false faith with false Gods’ drew calls from Jewish clergy for an apology. Sen. Sheryl Nuxoll joined two other Republican senators in refusing to attend the daily invocation on March 3 because a Hindu chaplain, Rajan Zed, led it.

“Nuxoll was quoted by The Associated Press as saying that she refused to attend because she sees the United States as a Christian nation… Her statement led Rabbi Daniel Fink of Boise’s Congregation Ahavatah Beth Israel to recruit a slate of local clergy to sign on to a letter he wrote calling for an apology. ‘Being a public official who is expected to represent all citizens, it is highly inappropriate and insensitive for Ms. Nuxoll to unnecessarily label a major religion as “false,” as there are about 3 million Hindus in U.S.A., including some in Idaho,’ said the March 14 letter, organized through the state’s Interfaith Equality Coalition. It was signed by 28 clergy and a number of other people.

“Also asking for an apology was Rabbi ElizaBeth Beyer of congregations in Reno, Nev. and Tahoe Vista, Calif., who has served with Zed on interfaith panels. ‘If Nuxoll had a clue, she would know that Hinduism is the third largest religion of the world and it offers rich philosophical thought,’ Beyer said in a statement…”

What ridiculous reasoning and utter confusion! Because someone is a public official and because a religion is the third largest in the world, he or she must participate in its religious practices? 

No, It’s Not Russia or China… It’s the USA—the Land of the “Free”!

People Magazine published the following article on its website, people.com, on March 15:

“After being forced by the state of Connecticut to undergo chemotherapy treatments she did not want, the 17-year-old known in court papers as Cassandra C. is now in remission – fighting to get out of the hospital where she has been held since Dec. 9. ‘I have been alone in the hospital for the most part,’ the Windsor Locks, Connecticut, teen tells PEOPLE from the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford, where she has been legally required to stay since late last year under the temporary custody of the state Department of Children and Families…

“Even though the chemotherapy she received brought her into remission, she says, ‘I would never get chemo again after this if I ever relapsed. I would explore alternative methods like I originally wanted to. I don’t want to go through this again.’

“Last fall, when Cassandra’s doctors at CCMC suspected she might have Hodgkin’s lymphoma, she began researching chemotherapy, its standard treatment, which medical experts say has about an 85 percent chance of curing it. Without it, her doctors said she could have died. She says she wasn’t that concerned about side effects such as nausea or hair loss. She says she was most worried about other ‘major possible side effects’ she had read about including possible heart damage and secondary cancers…

“Her mother, she says, initially wanted her to have chemotherapy. ‘She told me as a parent that she didn’t want to lose her only daughter and that we would get through the chemo, but that wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to try anything else that wasn’t as potentially harmful as chemo. Eventually she chose to not fight with me about it. She chose to stand by me’…

“After doctors confirmed her diagnosis, Cassandra says, CCMC scheduled appointments for Cassandra to begin chemotherapy. Instead, Cassandra and her mother went to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts, to get a second opinion, she says. When she missed several appointments at CCMC (Cassandra says her mother told the hospital she would reschedule them), doctors there notified DCF, according to court records…

“DCF took temporary custody of her and placed her in a foster home with a family member, she says. She returned home after she agreed at a Nov. 12 court hearing to undergo the chemotherapy. But on Nov. 18, on her second day of treatment, her oncologist told her that she needed surgery the next morning to insert a chemotherapy port in her chest, which she did not want and thought she would not have to get for another month. ‘I was freaking out.’ She ran away, leaving home after her mother fell asleep…

“On Dec. 9, after she returned home, a Superior Court judge granted DCF temporary custody of Cassandra… ‘ DCF kind of just took me away, so there was really no time to make a decision on what we wanted to do or to research alternative treatments. No one ever sat down and talked to me about the chemotherapy. It was, “You have cancer. You have to get in here so we can start chemo.’”

“Life in the hospital was bleak at first for Cassandra. She wasn’t allowed to have a phone. DCF limited who could come see her, banning visits from her mother after Jan. 8, though she is trying to regain her visitation rights. Someone even stood guard outside her room for the first few weeks to make sure she didn’t try to leave. ‘I feel like a prisoner,’ she says.

“On Dec. 17, she says, her doctor told her that she was scheduled for surgery the following morning to insert the port she feared, so that she could get the chemotherapy she had fought so hard against. On the morning of the surgery, ‘a nurse came in and I told myself just to fight. When she started to put an IV in me, I wouldn’t let her.’

“After spending two hours telling her doctor, DCF and other hospital staff that she didn’t want the surgery, ‘Security had to pick me up, pin me to the bed and strap me down by my wrists and ankles,’ she says. ‘When I woke up, I looked down and there was a port in my chest. I thought, “I cannot believe they did this to me”’…

“The following day, she was forced to resume the chemotherapy. And on Jan. 8, the Connecticut Supreme court ruled that Cassandra had to continue the state-ordered treatments, saying she was not mature enough to make that decision for herself…

“Looking back on everything she has gone through, she says, ‘I can only hope that if there is a kid out there who doesn’t want chemo, they will show my story to a judge and say, “Remember this girl?’””

To read something like this makes one wonder how insensitive governmental officials, doctors, nurses, judges and above all DCF employees can be when it comes to human beings who are being treated like cattle and prisoners to follow medical procedures which are questionable at best. As we have pointed out in our Updates, personal liberties and freedoms ARE being taken away from American citizens on a CONSISTENT BASIS.

The Fear of Nuclear War

The Economist wrote on March 7:

“Every nuclear power is spending lavishly to upgrade its atomic arsenal… Russia’s defence budget has grown by over 50% since 2007, and fully a third of it is devoted to nuclear weapons… China… is adding to its stocks and investing heavily in submarines and mobile missile batteries. Pakistan is amassing dozens of battlefield nukes to make up for its inferiority to India in conventional forces. North Korea is thought to be capable of adding a warhead a year to its stock of around ten, and is working on missiles that can strike the west coast of the United States…

“[Obama] has asked Congress for almost $350 billion to undertake a decade-long programme of modernisation of America’s arsenal… Dmitry Kiselev, one of the Kremlin’s mouthpieces, has declared with relish that Russian nuclear forces could turn America into ‘radioactive ash’… the murder of Boris Nemtsov, an opposition leader, on the Kremlin’s doorstep on February 27th was only the latest sign that Mr Putin’s Russia is heading into the geopolitical badlands… First in Georgia and now in Ukraine, Russia has shown it will escalate to extremes to assert its hold over its neighbours and convince the West that intervention is pointless…”

The Bible does not predict a nuclear confrontation between the USA and Russia or China, but it does prophesy a nuclear war between the USA and continental Europe.

North Korea Threatens With Nuclear War

Newsmax reported on March 4:

“South Korea and the United States rejected an offer from North Korea on Jan. 10 that Pyongyang would temporarily stop its nuclear testing if the U.S. canceled this year’s exercise scheduled for this month… ‘The prevailing situation where a great war for national reunification is at hand requires all the Korean People’s Army units to become guard units fully prepared for war politically and ideologically, in military technique and materially,’ [North Korean leader Kim Jong-un] said, according to the Korean Central News Agency…

“Kim told North Korea’s military that he wanted ‘to tear to pieces the Stars and Stripes’ and threatened that America was vulnerable to a nuclear attack from his country, according to Daily Mail. ‘The U.S. is seriously mistaken if it thinks its mainland is safe,’ said Kim.

“The Daily Mail reported that Kim’s comments come shortly after the U.S. government took another step in imposing new sanctions on North Korea’s banks, blocking their access to hard cash.”

One might want to dismiss these comments as political hyperbole, but Kim is a ruthless murderous leader, and North Korea does possess the bomb.

USA Dependent on Iran?

The New York Times wrote on March 5:

“At a time when President Obama is under political pressure from congressional Republicans over negotiations to rein in Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, a startling paradox has emerged: Mr. Obama is becoming increasingly dependent on Iranian fighters as he tries to contain the Islamic State militant group in Iraq and Syria without committing American ground troops…

“‘The only way in which the Obama administration can credibly stick with its strategy is by implicitly assuming that the Iranians will carry most of the weight and win the battles on the ground,’ said Vali R. Nasr, a former special adviser to Mr. Obama who is now dean of the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. ‘You can’t have your cake and eat it too — the U.S. strategy in Iraq has been successful so far largely because of Iran.’… the closer the United States appears to get to Iran, the more fretful Sunni Arab allies become.”

America’s “strategy” is predestined to failure, but it is also very dangerous for its own national security.

Iran Letter Causes Stir

Breitbart wrote on March 10:

“Democrats are pushing back against the letter, circulated by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and signed by 47 Senators in all [out of the Senate’s 54 GOP members], that warns the Iranian regime that any deal it signs with President Barack Obama could be voided by the next president if it is not ratified by the Senate under the U.S. Constitution…

“It is certainly unusual to have Senators approach foreign leaders, as Cotton and his colleagues did in tongue-in-cheek fashion, to fight what is a domestic policy dispute. But it is not unheard of for Congress to strike an independent posture on foreign policy–as Democrats did, to their disgrace, in coddling Syria after 2006–and in this case the Senators have no other choice. Obama has refused to listen to Congress on foreign policy–or, in the case of Cuba, even to keep it informed.

“The brilliance of the Cotton letter is that it has forced Obama to admit openly what he had only hinted at indirectly before–that he has no intention of submitting any Iran agreement to Congress for ratification–or even for review. That admission exposes the fact that Obama no longer, in any meaningful sense, represents the United States at the negotiating table… A freshman Senator has beaten the president.”

Newsmax added on March 10:

“[President] Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and other Democrats excoriated the letter’s authors Monday, saying Republican leaders were reaching out to a U.S. adversary to try to undermine the president. The front page of the New York Daily News Tuesday put images of Cotton and other Senate Republicans with the headline ‘Traitors.’

“Asked whether the signatories were traitors, Cotton replied negatively and said they were just trying to speak for the American people… ‘This letter, in the guise of a constitutional lesson, ignores two centuries of precedent and threatens to undermine the ability of any future American president, whether Democrat or Republican, to negotiate with other nations on behalf of the United States,’ Biden said in a statement Monday.

“Cotton shot back Tuesday. ‘Joe Biden, as Barack Obama’s own secretary of defense has said, has been wrong about nearly every major foreign policy and national security decision in the last 40 years,’ he said.

“The back-and-forth between Republicans in Congress and the White House comes as the Obama administration faces an end-of- month deadline on a deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program. Obama and White House officials have said the likelihood of reaching a deal is no more than 50 percent.”

As the previous article points out, Joe Biden has also been wrong with his “historic” statement. And the left-wing media should be very careful before they libel others by calling them traitors.

Deutsche Welle reported on March 13:

“[German Foreign Minister] Frank-Walter Steinmeier has warned that Republican efforts to undermine an Iran nuclear deal are unhelpful. Senior US Senator John McCain blasted Germany’s visiting foreign minister…

“McCain accused Steinmeier of being in the ‘Neville Chamberlain school of diplomacy; when it came to Ukraine, referring to the former British prime minister considered to have appeased Adolf Hitler in the run-up to the Second World War. ‘The foreign minister of Germany is the same guy that refuses – and his government – to enact any restrictions on the behavior of Vladimir Putin, who is slaughtering Ukrainians as we speak,’ McCain told reporters. ‘He doesn’t have any credibility in any way to me.’”

Israelis Don’t Trust Obama

The Jewish Daily Forward reported on March 8:

“The paradox that Israelis rely on — and expect — American support and yet don’t trust American judgment on Middle Eastern affairs helps explain the recent U.S.-Israel dustup in Washington. On March 3, that clash reached its climax when Netanyahu appeared before a joint meeting of Congress to warn the assembled lawmakers against their own president’s negotiations, together with other countries, with Iran ahead of a possible deal on that country’s nuclear program.

“Israelis were split on the value of Netanyahu’s trip to Washington, which was widely seen as a play to the prime minister’s right-wing base before the March 17 election. But most Israelis were in agreement about their premier’s message. About three-quarters of Israelis ‘don’t trust Obama to be a reliable ally and to deal effectively with the Iranian nuclear threat’ said Eytan Gilboa, a senior researcher at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. That opinion was evident on the Israeli street the day of Netanyahu’s speech to Congress… many Israelis fundamentally disagree with what they take to be the American approach, especially when it comes to the Iranians…”

Dershowitz: “Obama Totally Misled the American People” over Iran

Newsmax wrote on March 4:

“President Barack Obama ‘totally misled the American people’ by saying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during his Tuesday address to a joint session of Congress, presented no new ideas about striking a deal with Iran over nuclear weapons, Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz said Wednesday…

“‘His proposal, and it’s a very sound one, is that the sunset provision doesn’t kick in unless Iran does three things — it has to stop being the world’s greatest exporter of terrorism, it has to stop bullying neighboring countries like Syria and Lebanon, and it has to stop calling for the destruction of Israel. That’s new, Mr. President and you have an obligation to respond to that instead of name-calling and invoking protocol…’”

Hillary Clinton Has Some Explaining to Do Over Email Controversy

Real Clear Politics wrote on March 6, 2015:

“In 2007, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton denounced the Bush administration practice of hiding official correspondence from the public using private email servers… ‘You know our Constitution is being shredded. We know about the secret wiretaps, about the secret military tribunals, we know about the secret White House email accounts.’”

The gatewaypundit added the following on March 5, 2015:

“Two years later, as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton set up a secret email account and secret servers in her basement for all of her official business.”

CBS reported on March 10:

“Hillary Clinton is finally breaking her silence about the email controversy surrounding her. Following a speech at the United Nations Tuesday afternoon, Clinton told reporters she ‘opted for convenience’ for only using her private email address while at the State Department because she wanted to use one device for both her personal and work emails… The former secretary of state said it ‘would’ve been better’ to use an official government email…

“Clinton added that she deleted all of her personal emails from her private account of the more than 60,000 emails in total that were sent and received. About half of them were personal emails, she said. Some of those emails pertained to her daughter Chelsea’s wedding, her mother’s funeral arrangements, and her yoga routine…

“The White House has said that President Barack Obama learned only recently that Clinton was using a privately run server for emailing during her tenure and that she was using private email for all official business. He was aware of the account’s existence before because the two had exchanged emails using it. Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said Clinton should turn the server itself over to an ‘independent arbiter’…

“Clinton is under scrutiny over whether she fully complied with federal laws requiring government officials to preserve written communications involving official business. By using her own email server, traced to an Internet connection registered to her hometown in Chappaqua, New York, she gained more control over her email than she would have had using a government server… Last week, Clinton said in a Twitter message that she wanted her emails released by the State Department as soon as possible — but did not address why she does not put them out herself…”

On March 10, The Washington Post gave Democrats “three Pinocchios” for their “misleading spin” and attempts to defend Hillary Clinton’s conduct, stating: “… this common defense among her supporters is used to deflect the central issue: that Clinton exclusively used a personal account, and did not provide records until she was requested to, after she left office. That is the most relevant point, so the Democrats earn Three Pinocchios.”

Ben Carson’s Gay Remarks … and Then “Apologizes” and “Backtracks”

Newsmax reported on March 4:

“Tea party Republican and potential 2016 presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Tuesday that being gay is a choice, an example being straight people who emerge from prison as homosexuals. During a discussion about same-sex marriage rights, Cuomo asked Carson if, as with slavery, gay marriage needed to be corrected in the Constitution as a form of equal protection. Carson replied that there’s no comparison between the two. ‘You can’t just say because it happened that way this time, this is the same situation, it’s not the same situation,’ he said, ‘because people have no control over their race, for instance.’

“Cuomo then asked if Carson believed people had control over their sexuality and if being gay was a choice. ‘Absolutely,’ said Carson…

“In 2013, Carson apologized for comments he made comparing homosexuality to bestiality and pedophilia when he said that marriage was ‘a well-established, fundamental pillar of society and no group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA (North American Man/Boy Love Association), be they people who believe in bestiality — it doesn’t matter what they are, they don’t get to change the definition.’…”

CNN reported on March 5:

“Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson apologized for commenting Wednesday that prisoners’ changes after they leave jail proves being gay is a choice, but said that the science is still murky on the issue. And then, in a radio appearance later Wednesday, he criticized CNN for airing the comments he’d made in an interview and said he won’t be addressing gay rights issues for the duration of his presidential campaign…

“He backtracked in a statement afterward, saying he ‘realized that my choice of language does not reflect fully my heart on gay issues. I do not pretend to know how every individual came to their sexual orientation. I regret that my words to express that concept were hurtful and divisive. For that I apologize unreservedly to all that were offended,’ he added.

“Carson referenced his medical education and his work at Johns Hopkins Hospital and asserted that the verdict is still out on whether people are born either gay or straight. ‘Some of our brightest minds have looked at this debate, and up until this point there have been no definitive studies that people are born into a specific sexuality,’ he said.”

We don’t care about the misled “brightest minds” of doctors and what they say. After all, the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. And the Bible is VERY clear in this issue: People are NOT born being gay. God demands that those who practice homosexuality must change if they want to be in God’s Kingdom. God calls the practice of homosexuality an abomination. In Old Testament Israel, they were killed. That totally excludes the notion that one is “born” that way.

We feel sorry for Ben Carson’s apologetic and cowardly stance. Ben Carson also recently advocated compulsory vaccinations and claimed erroneously that the pharmaceutical industry was not acting because of profit and financial gain.

Britain vs. Israel

The Washington Post wrote on March 4:

“British authorities have banned an Israeli government tourism ad because it appears to suggest that Jerusalem’s Old City, which is technically occupied Palestinian territory, is a part of Israel…

“Jerusalem’s Old City, a protected UNESCO World Heritage site, is home to shrines and temples that are sacred to all three biblical religions. Its status is the source of endless friction… A separate Palestinian state, as imagined in a long-stalled two-state solution, would make East Jerusalem its capital. But the expansion of Israeli settlements and housing blocks in the West Bank and areas of East Jerusalem has made that a distant reality.

“In a speech before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to Jerusalem as Israel’s ‘eternal, undivided capital’ – a wording that’s consistent with his long-standing rhetoric. European frustration has been mounting with Netanyahu’s government, which many critics accuse of undermining the prospect of a two-state solution.”

In the Millennium, Jerusalem WILL BE the undivided capital not just of Israel, but of the entire world, when Jesus Christ sits on the throne of David in Jerusalem.

Insane ISIS on a Rampage

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 6:

“‘Islamic State’ fighters have looted and bulldozed the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud in Northern Iraq. UNESCO condemned this act of destruction as a war crime… The extremist fighters ‘assaulted the ancient city of Nimrud and bulldozed it with heavy machinery, appropriating the archeological attractions dating back 13 centuries BC,’ Iraq’s tourism and antiquities ministry said…

“The destruction of the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud in northern Iraq, about 20 miles (30 km) south of Mosul, is the latest assault on some of the world’s greatest archaeological treasures committed by the terrorist group.”

Russia’s “Investigation” of Its Murders

The Associated Press reported on March 7:

“Two suspects have been detained in the killing a week ago of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, the head of Russia’s federal security service said Saturday, an announcement received with both skepticism and reserved satisfaction by some of Nemtsov’s comrades… Suspicion in the opposition is high that the killing was ordered by the Kremlin in retaliation for Nemtsov’s adamant criticism of President Vladimir Putin. The 55-year-old was working on a report about Russian military involvement in the eastern Ukraine conflict… Many believe that Nemtsov’s death in a tightly secured area near the Kremlin wouldn’t have been possible without official involvement, and could be an attempt to scare other government foes…

“In some previous killings of Kremlin critics, especially the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006, there has been wide criticism that those who ordered the killing have not been identified or prosecuted…”

Bild Online reported on March 7 that Boris Nemtsov stated in an interview in March 2012 that Putin would be behind any killings of any opposition leaders, stating that Putin admitted to him that that was his plan. He said that if a high-ranking KGB man says something like this–and if one was in the KGB, one is always in the KGB –then this means that he was planning such murders. Bild also stated that world-renown Russian violist Gidon Kremer wrote to “Bayrischen Rundfunk” (a German TV news agency) that the death of an opposition leader is never “accidental” or a “provocation.” It was also emphasized that leads to the Kremlin are not even considered in the “investigation.” Experts doubt that an independent investigation is even possible under the influence of the Kremlin. Bild concluded that Nemtsov’s murder would not be the first murder of Kremlin opponents which will not be solved.

On March 6, Die Zeit published a revealing interview with Putin opponent Yuri Felshtinsky who expressed his conviction that Putin, whom he compared with Hitler, ordered Nemtsov’s execution. To learn more about the basis for his comments, watch Norbert Link’s recent video-taped message, “Russia and Iran in Prophecy.”

Nemtsov’s Murderers Caught?—Utter Nonsense!

Reuters wrote on March 9:

“Suggestions that Russian politician Boris Nemtsov was killed by Chechen Islamists are nonsense designed to deflect suspicion from President Vladimir Putin, associates of the slain opposition figure said on Monday. Investigators have charged two men, including a former Chechen police official, over the shooting of Nemtsov within sight of the Kremlin walls on Feb. 27. Three more men have been arrested, and another blew himself up late on Saturday as police in Chechnya tried to detain him, Russian media said.

“Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov [a fierce loyalist of Putin and one of his puppets who received a state award from Putin on Monday, March 9, which is bestowed for achievements in public service] said the charged ex-policeman, Zaur Dadayev, was a pious Muslim who had been angered by publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad in French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Nemtsov had condemned an attack on Charlie Hebdo in which Islamist militants killed 12 people in January. But friends reject this as a motive, saying they do not believe Islamist gunmen acting alone could have shot him dead in one of the most closely guarded areas of central Moscow unless they had powerful and well-connected backers.

“These associates believe it was Putin who stood to gain from his killing, though Russian officials have denied involvement and the president has called it a shameful tragedy. [Putin’s Russia also denied initially that they were involved in annexing Crimea, and they are still denying that they are supporting the rebels in Eastern Ukraine.]…

“Dadayev and four other suspects, all ethnic Chechens, appeared in a Moscow court on Sunday… Dadayev’s mother told Reuters her son could not have killed Nemtsov, and was being set up…”

This theory by the Kremlin makes no sense, and one would have thought that even Putin and his supporters would have come up with a better theory. Dadayev had served for many years as a policeman in Chechnya. As the Washington Post reported, “Kadyrov, a Moscow ally who has led the Chechen Republic since 2007, has been widely criticized for a crackdown on dissent. But he has been lauded by Putin for his support in battling Islamist separatists in the region.” The Associated Press reported on March 9 that Putin granted the medal to Kadyrov for “services to the motherland,” giving it to “a man British police say poisoned former security services agent Alexander Litvinenko.”

Anti-Americanism in Russia

Newsmax reported on March 9:

“Russia’s anti-American sentiment is at levels not seen at any time since the Stalin era… and a new study reveals that more than 80 percent of Russians hold a negative view of the United States. The country’s indignation has been growing for some time… and was further stoked after rumors started concerning the assassination of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov. Conspiracy theorists have been saying that he was killed through the CIA in a plot to discredit Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin….

“Already, efforts are being made in Russia to move away from Western brands of clothing, soft drinks and more. And news of sanctions and rumors of conspiracies that blame Washington for unrest in Ukraine and Russia is further stoking Russians’ anger… U.S.-led sanctions have helped push the Russian economy toward recession, further souring relations, and the anger could grow if Obama decides to send weapons to the Ukrainian military… And with Russia’s national television channels, where 90 percent of the country’s residents get their news, spreading more anti-Washington reports, anti-American sentiment is continuing to grow even stronger…

“Evidence of the dislike ranges from Crimean coffee shops that are not serving Americans to an instance where activists projected racially insulting images of Obama eating a banana onto the side wall of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow… Western diplomats are saying that they are being blocked from speaking engagements, and Russians who work for Western-based companies say their friends and neighbors are questioning their patriotism.

“McDonald’s, once popular for its connections to the West, saw some of its most prominent restaurants closed in the fall for health violations… When they reopened, the company launched an advertising campaign emphasizing its 25-year history in Russia, including a billboard in Moscow that proclaims McDonald’s products are ‘made in Russia, for Russians.’”

No German Trust in Russia

The Local wrote on March 6:

“A new poll showed on Friday that only 15 percent of Germans think Russia is a trustworthy partner in international affairs. Meanwhile, 81 percent told pollsters… that Russia was ‘not to be trusted’… Asked specifically about the Minsk ceasefire agreement for Ukraine, hammered out with President Vladimir Putin of Russia by Chancellor Angela Merkel and the leaders of France and Ukraine, only 13 percent of people thought it would lead to peace.

“Reuters reported on Thursday that Russia will conduct large-scale military exercises expected to last over a month in disputed border territories, including the Crimean peninsula – a part of Ukraine annexed by Moscow last year.”

The German mood against Russia is interesting in light of the German government’s idle attempts to strike deals with Russia.

A European Army

The Guardian wrote on March 8:

“Jean-Claude Juncker, the former prime minister of Luxembourg, told a German newspaper that having an army would solve the problem of the EU’s foreign policy not being taken seriously. The European Union needs its own army to help address the problem that it is not ‘taken entirely seriously’ as an international force, the president of the European commission has said. Jean-Claude Juncker said such a move would help the EU to persuade Russia that it was serious about defending its values in the face of the threat posed by Moscow.

“However, his proposal was immediately rejected by the British government, which said that there was ‘no prospect’ of the UK agreeing to the creation of an EU army… In the past David Cameron, the British prime minister, has blocked moves to create EU-controlled military forces…

“But in Germany, Ursula von der Leyen, the defence minister, said in a statement that ‘our future as Europeans will one day be a European army’, although she added ‘not in the short term’. She said such a move would ‘strengthen Europe’s security’… Norbert Röttgen, head of the German parliament’s foreign policy committee, said having an EU army was ‘a European vision whose time has come’…”

The Financial Times added on March 8:

“Large member states are split over the idea of an EU army, with the proposals being cautiously welcomed by many senior German politicians but repeatedly dismissed outright by a succession of British governments… Mr Juncker… has long argued for the establishment of an EU force, making it part of his foreign policy plan during the selection process for the presidency of the commission in 2014…

“Mr Cameron has repeatedly reassured eurosceptic MPs in his own party that Britain would ‘never support’ any form of EU army…

“Mr Juncker said an EU army would ‘help us to develop a common foreign and security policy, and to fulfil Europe’s responsibilities in the world’. Nato was not a sufficient protection for the EU as not all EU members are part of the alliance, according to Mr Juncker.”

Zerohedge.com added on March 8:

“Having specifically aimed his call for a unified European Army at ‘reacting credibly to show Russia that Europe is serious about defending its values,’ it is no surprise that Russia has responded to Jean-Claude Juncker’s statements. As TASS reports, first deputy chairman of the United Russia faction in the State Duma, Frants Klintsevich, told the media on Sunday that ‘in the nuclear age extra armies do not provide any additional security. But they surely can play a provocative role,’ adding it was regrettable that such ideas had already met with some support…

“The Germans are all for it…”

German news magazines also reported that Angela Merkel (CDU) and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD), as well as the opposition party of The Greens, supported the idea of a European army. All said that it will not happen soon and that there is still a long way to go. It may happen sooner than many anticipate, but Britain won’t be a part of it.

German Hysteria against Measles “Outbreak”

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 6:

“A measles outbreak in Berlin… has provoked new calls for vaccination against measles and other preventable diseases to be made compulsory in Germany. According to a survey commissioned this week by public service broadcaster ARD, 72 percent of Germans are in favor of compulsory vaccination. The official German pediatric association, the BVKJ, on Friday reiterated its demand for parents to be required by law to have their children vaccinated… He pointed out that vaccination was not only there to protect the person being inoculated, but also children who could not be vaccinated for medical reasons, such as young babies and children with congenital or acquired immune deficiencies.”

This shows how an ill-informed media can influence the opinion of others and lead to unfounded or even dangerous and life-threatening decisions. Note the next article.

Americans Beware—Violent Persecution in Pakistan over Dangerous Polio Vaccines

On March 7, vaccineimpact.com reported the following eye-opening piece on its website, showing where hysteria and irresponsible propaganda can lead:

“The Guardian is reporting that health officials in Pakistan are arresting and throwing into jail hundreds of parents who refuse to allow their children to receive the oral polio vaccine. These health officials are forcing children to receive the vaccine at gunpoint…

“Last year (2014) polio made headline news because the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it was now an ‘epidemic’ in certain parts of the world, and Pakistan was claimed to be an area especially hard hit. As usual, ‘anti-vaccine parents’ were blamed for this world-wide ‘epidemic.’

“So how bad was this polio ‘epidemic’ that WHO declared in 2014? In May of 2014, when they made the announcement which was carried as headline news in most U.S. mainstream media outlets, there had been 74 cases – in the ENTIRE WORLD. 59 of those cases were in Pakistan at the time. Today, as of Feb. 25, 2015, there have been 10 cases so far worldwide, but 9 of those are in Pakistan…

“One must ask: Who is actually profiting from this?

“UNICEF, which partners with WHO for global vaccine purchases and distribution, is one of the largest purchasers of vaccines for worldwide distribution. In 2013, for example, they purchased 1.7 billion doses of the live oral polio vaccine to administer to children under the age of 5. The oral polio vaccine is so dangerous that it is no longer used in developed countries like the U.S. But, it is mandated, purchased, and distributed in poor countries.

“The real tragedy with the live oral polio vaccines is that they can cause the very thing they are supposed to be preventing: polio. Both ‘vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis’ and ‘non-polio acute flaccid paralysis’ are known side effects of the live oral polio vaccine. It sheds the virus from the vaccine through feces and into sewers and sanitation systems. India recently achieved its ‘polio-free’ status, but at the cost of tens of thousands of non-polio acute flaccid paralysis cases each year.

“Doctors and researchers who understand the dangers and risks of the oral polio vaccine (OPV) have been calling for an end to this terrible vaccine for years now… Outbreaks of polio in China, Egypt, Haiti, Madagascar, and the Philippines caused by circulating, neurovirulent vaccine-derived polioviruses (VDPVs) demonstrate that these revertent strains are fully transmissible and pose significant population risks…

“The pro-pharma western media in places like the U.S. like to paint vaccine-dissenters in places like Pakistan as ignorant, poor people who need to be forced into a vaccination program against their will for the ‘greater good’ of society. However, is this actually true? Just as is the case in the U.S., researchers and health professionals are not unified in their views on vaccination policies…

“Could we see armed health officials roaming the streets of cities in the U.S. forcing children to be vaccinated against the wishes of their parents at gunpoint? The rationale and the legal framework for such actions is actually already in place to do just that… the Department of Homeland Security is quietly stockpiling billions of dollars worth of experimental vaccines to presumably use in the case of a ‘national emergency.’ The U.S. government has broad powers granted to them to force people to receive these vaccines by declaring an ‘epidemic’ or ‘national emergency.’

“All across the U.S. local state legislators and health officials are moving to take away the right to informed consent regarding vaccines for children. If Americans don’t wake up soon, whether you are pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine, and stop this rush to take away individual rights and liberties, it may not be long before [what occurs in Pakistan these days] represents what is happening in the streets of America, with thousands of parents being arrested and thrown into jail for refusing to comply with mass vaccination programs…”

This conclusion might appear far-fetched, but given the systematic attempts of the US government to deprive its citizens of liberty and freedom, we must say that stranger things have happened. Has this world and much of the medical profession and the entire pharmaceutical industry gone mad? Yes, indeed, mad and greedy and oblivious to or ignorant of the causes for human suffering, while being largely responsible, directly or indirectly, for more and more suffering and death. But this should surprise no one who knows the truth, because it is SATAN who is the god of this world, who pretends to be an angel of light, and who has deceived the whole world.

Lawlessness and Terrorism Pervades Putin’s Russia

Reuters reported on February 28:

“Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s involvement in the war in Ukraine, was shot dead steps from the Kremlin in central Moscow late on Friday. Nemtsov, 55, was shot four times in the back by assailants in a white car as he walked across a bridge over the Moskva River with a Ukrainian woman who was unhurt…

“Nemtsov was by far the most prominent opposition figure killed in Russia under Putin’s 15-year-rule and the Kremlin swiftly sought to deflect any blame for the murder. Putin condemned the ‘brutal’ slaying and took the investigation under presidential control, saying it could have been a contract killing and a ‘provocation’ on the eve of a big opposition protest [against the war in east Ukraine] Nemtsov had been due to lead on Sunday.

“But the killing focused attention on the tough treatment of Kremlin opponents in Putin’s third term, during which several leading critics have been jailed or fled the country following mass rallies against the former KGB spy three years ago. ‘That a leader of the opposition could be shot beside the walls of the Kremlin is beyond imagination. There can be only one version: that he was shot for telling the truth,’ Mikhail Kasyanov, an opposition leader and a former prime minister under Putin, said at the scene…

“Ed Joyce, the Republican chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, said ‘lawlessness now pervades Putin’s Russia… Regardless of who killed Boris Nemtsov, this shocking murder is the latest assault on those who dare to oppose the Putin regime,’ he said…

“Nemtsov briefly served as a deputy prime minister under President Boris Yeltsin in the late 1990s, when he gained a reputation as a leading liberal economic reformer… Anna Politkovskaya, an investigative journalist and Putin critic, was shot dead outside her Moscow apartment in 2006. Paul Klebnikov, an investigative U.S. journalist, was shot dead in 2004.”

Putin’s Murderous Dictatorship

CNN added on February 27:

“Critics like [Opposition leader Ilya] Yashin and [World chess champion-turned opposition activist Garry] Kasparov pointed fingers in the direction of Putin or a supporter of the Russian President. ‘It’s clearly a political murder. It’s definitely a contract one,’ Yashin said. ‘I don’t know who killed Boris, but I know that it’s the government and personally Putin who are responsible for it. They’ve been constantly promoting a hatred towards everyone who doesn’t support their course and thinks different.’…

“Kasparov said the Russian President is to blame even if not directly involved. ‘If Putin gave order to murder Boris Nemtsov is not the point. It is Putin’s dictatorship. His 24/7 propaganda about enemies of the state,’ Kasparov tweeted. ‘In Putin’s atmosphere of hatred & violence, abroad & in Russia, bloodshed is the prerequisite to show loyalty, that you are on the team,’ he added.

“Critics of Putin have in the past suffered miserable circumstances and demises. Oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky accused Putin of corruption and wound up spending 10 years in prison and labor camps. Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko accused state security services of organizing a coup to put Putin in power. He was poisoned by a lethal dose of radioactive polonium and died in London in 2006. No killer has been caught.

“Viktor Yushchenko, the former Ukrainian president, was poisoned, disfigured and nearly killed by a toxic dose of dioxin in 2004…”

Did Putin Set It Up?

The Washington Post wrote on February 27:

“The killing was a dramatic and bloody turn for Russia’s oppressed opposition movement, which has struggled to find its footing during a wave of nationalistic fervor unleashed by the annexation of Ukraine’s semi­autonomous Crimean region last year. Many leaders have been marginalized with prison terms or other forms of harassment, and public rhetoric has grown extremely aggressive toward those who deviate from the majority line…

“Politically motivated slayings are not unknown in Russia, but not once in the 24 years since the breakup of the Soviet Union has such a high-profile figure been the victim…

“Just hours before his death, Nemtsov told Ekho Moskvy radio that Putin had pushed Russia into an economic crisis through his ‘mad, aggressive and deadly policy of war against Ukraine’… Nemtsov had been working on a report that he said would prove that Russian soldiers were fighting alongside pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, where a bloody 11-month-conflict has claimed nearly 5,800 lives. The Kremlin has hotly denied any direct involvement, which Russian opinion polls suggest would be deeply unpopular…

“Russian opposition leaders said Saturday that they were fearful that Nemtsov’s slaying was only the first in a new era of political repression…

“In 2012, Putin warned publicly that his opponents were prepared to murder one of their own so they could blame him for the death. ‘They are looking for a so-called sacrificial victim among some prominent figures,’ Putin, a former KGB agent, told a gathering of the All-Russia Popular Front, a group organized to support him, ahead of Russia’s 2012 presidential election. ‘They will knock him off, I beg your pardon, and then blame the authorities for that.’”

This sounds like Putin might have been toying with the idea as early as 2012, if not even earlier. US Secretary of State John Kerry has claimed that Putin blatantly lied to him and the West when denying Russia’s militaristic support of pro-Russian rebels in East Ukraine.

All Signs Point at Putin

The Telegraph wrote on February 27:

“The leading liberal politician who organised street demonstrations against the authorities was shot four times by unidentified attackers yards from the Kremlin walls… His uncovered body lay for about an hour at the spot where he was killed…

“Only two weeks ago Mr Nemtsov said he feared for his life and that President Putin might order his killing. Speaking to Russia’s Sobesednik news website, he said: ‘I’m afraid Putin will kill me. I believe that he was the one who unleashed the war in the Ukraine. I couldn’t dislike him more.’”

The Guardian added on February 27:

“His murder took place in the heart of Moscow, within touching distance of the Kremlin and the fantastical bulbous domes of St Basil’s cathedral. It is an area infested with police, who typically break up opposition manifestations within seconds. And yet Nemtsov’s killer was seemingly able to escape, having shot his target four times in the chest from a white car…

“In the end, Nemtsov fell victim to old-fashioned mafia methods. His shooting is the first assassination of a major political figure in Moscow for a decade. It robs Russia of a brave, authentic and distinctive voice at a time when the country is locked in a dark spiral of war and propaganda.”

Developments in Russia begin to mirror events in Nazi Germany after Hitler came to power.

How Putin Supresses the Truth

Deutsche Welle reported on March 2:

“The murder of staunch Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov on Friday and the march in his memory through downtown Moscow on Sunday were the main media topics over the weekend, and Russian media were no exception. This politically motivated attack is, without doubt, a tragic and significant event in recent Russian history. It was also interesting to observe how the Kremlin and Russia’s state-controlled media began churning out the usual disinformation in an attempt to obscure the facts.

“Normally, Russia’s state-controlled media remain silent about events involving criticism of President Vladimir Putin. That most likely would have been the case for the opposition march that was actually planned to take place on Sunday. But there was no way to avoid reporting about the murder of a leading opposition politician on a bridge in full view of the Kremlin. Nemtsov was an internationally known figure from his years serving as deputy prime minister in the 1990s. But it would be wrong to speak of any independent reporting – quite the opposite. Instead, the reporting highlighted the skill with which the Kremlin manipulates the media, and in turn, the Russian people.

“Shortly after Nemtsov was killed, the Russian president issued guidelines to the media. He explained that the murder of his critic was a “provocation” aimed at destabilizing the country. Putin made it clear that he himself was actually the target and the victim of the attack – not Nemtsov. It followed that the state prosecution and the Russian media pointed the finger of blame at those who oppose Putin: ‘the Americans,’ ‘the Ukrainians,’ ‘the Islamists,’ and any other groups seen as a threat to Russia’s national security.

“In reporting on the possibility of an Islamist background to the attack, the Russian media seized the opportunity to emphasize that Nemtsov was Jewish. Given the widespread anti-Semitism in Russia, the effect of such information in relation to the murder was evident: to wipe out any sympathy for the 55-year-old victim who, in addition, was in the company of his Ukrainian (!) girlfriend. For all those comrades who remain skeptical of the usual conspiracy theories circulating in Russia, the media made sure to mention Nemtsov’s alleged involvement in dodgy real estate dealings.

“The extensive reporting by the Russian media was not aimed at finding truth, but rather obfuscation. The responsibility of the Russian government, which has for years used the media to slander its opponents, was not a topic up for discussion. Nor was the question of why, right at the time of the murder, all the surveillance cameras around the Kremlin were either switched off, broken, or being repaired.

“With all the talk in the media concerning Nemtsov’s murder, the truth is being drowned out. Boris Nemtsov himself would hardly have been surprised.”

Only the willfully blind cannot see what is happening in Russia, under Putin’s totalitarian dictatorship.

China in Support of Russia

The Independent reported on February 27:

“China has voiced its support for Russia’s handling of the Ukraine crisis…  the Chinese ambassador to Belgium said the West should take ‘the real security concerns of Russia into consideration’… [and that the] ‘nature and root cause’ of the crisis was the ‘game’ between Russia and western powers the United States and EU, and that a change of approach is required to resolve it. After nearly a year of relative silence on the subject, China’s intervention is striking, not least because it comes just as harsher sanctions against Moscow are being discussed…

“This week Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Western powers of trying to dominate and impose their ideology on the rest of world. Meanwhile US and European delegations have slammed Moscow for its continued supported of the rebels in eastern Ukraine.”

No surprise that two totalitarian regimes would support each other…

Russia Heavily Militarizes Crimea

The Business Insider reported on March 2:

“Russia is heavily militarizing Crimea as a way to project power deep in to the Black Sea, USNI News reports citing supreme commander of NATO Gen. Philip Breedlove… Breedlove said that Russia had moved anti-air and anti-surface missile systems into the peninsula. These weapons could be used to hit targets in the Black Sea…

“The Kyiv Post reports that Russia has moved Iskander mobile ballistic missile systems into the peninsula. These missile systems can be redirected in flight to hit moving targets. In addition, Russia is developing a ‘rocket-artillery regiment equipped with Khrizantema, Msta, and Tornado-G missile defense systems’ in Crimea, according to the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM)…

“PISM notes that Russia is also making use of the shipbuilding facilities in Crimea to reconstitute its ageing Black Sea Fleet into a more viable force through the introduction of new ships and equipment. Russia elevated Crimea into one of its three main geopolitical priorities in a new military doctrine announced at the end of 2014. Alongside the Arctic and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, Moscow has designated the militarization of Crimea as a key national priority in order to exert influence beyond the country’s borders.”

Germany’s Armed Forces

Deutsche Welle reported on February 27:

“Germany plans to activate a tank battalion that exists only on paper as it seeks to increase the country’s military capability. The defense minister spoke of a “changed security situation” amid the conflict in Ukraine….

“Among other things, von der Leyen called into question the ceilings for heavy weapons systems established by her predecessor, current Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere…

“Germany’s plans to increase the flexibility and capability of its armed forces come amid growing demands from NATO for member states to boost their reaction speed. In response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, the military alliance called in September for the founding of a new rapid response force based in eastern Europe, in which the German Bundeswehr plays an important role…”

Anti-Semitism on the Rise in Europe

Reuters reported on February 26:

“Germany’s Jewish community leader has advised Jews not to wear skullcaps in areas with a large Muslim population, a warning that underscores fears about growing anti-Semitism in Europe… Seventy years after the Holocaust, anti-Semitism remains a particularly sensitive issue in Germany, and other European countries, including France and Britain, are also worried by a growth in hostility towards Jews.

“Last week, Berlin’s Jewish community decided to send its monthly newspaper out in a neutral envelope to protect recipients. The number of reported anti-Semitic crimes rose by more than one third last year to 1,076…

“Some German politicians and German Jews blame the rise in anti-Semitism on feelings about Middle East violence. A survey by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation last November highlighted a blurring of the lines in Germany between anti-Semitism and criticism of Israel, with 27 percent of those asked equating the Jewish state’s treatment of Palestinians to the Nazis’ persecution of Jews in World War Two…”

Cooperation between Israel and Jordan

JTA reported on February 26:

“Israel and Jordan signed a bilateral agreement to exchange water and to work together to save the Dead Sea. Government officials from the two countries signed the Seas Canal agreement at a ceremony Thursday on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea. Dignitaries from both sides, as well as representatives from the World Bank and the U.S. embassies in Israel and Jordan, were on hand…

“The agreement implements the first stage of the Seas Canal project, including the construction of a desalination plant north of Aqaba to supply water to the Arava region in Israel and to Aqaba in Jordan. Residual saline brines will be piped to the Dead Sea through an approximately 125-mile pipeline from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea in order to stabilize and save the Dead Sea.

“Also in the framework of the agreement, water from northern Israel will be piped to Amman… ‘This is the most important and significant agreement since the peace treaty with Jordan,’ said Silvan Shalom, Israel’s regional cooperation minister, who signed the agreement on behalf of his country. ‘This is the peak of fruitful and very good cooperation between Israel and Jordan and will assist in rehabilitating the Dead Sea and in resolving water issues in Jordan and the Arava.’”

“Iran Continues to Make Its Presence Felt…”

The Jerusalem Post wrote on February 27:

“A senior Iranian cleric with close ties to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed on Friday that ‘we will raise the flag of Islam over the White House’ in response to the killing of Hezbollah and Revolutionary Guards operatives on the Golan Heights last month… Israeli attack helicopters killed six Hezbollah terrorists along with six Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) operatives, including a high-ranking general…

“The cleric added that Iran continues to make its presence felt in a number of areas throughout the region, including Yemen, where a sect affiliated with Shi’ite Islam has overthrown a ruling government and taken power. ‘The Islamic Republic directly supports the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon and Shiite militias in Syria and Iraq,’ he said.”

Netanyahu Warns Obama Against Iran

Thomson/Reuters reported on March 3:

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday against accepting a nuclear deal with Iran that would be a ‘countdown to a potential nuclear nightmare’ by a country that ‘will always be an enemy of America’. ‘If the deal now being negotiated is accepted by Iran, that deal will not prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons – it will all but guarantee that Iran will get those nuclear weapons, lots of them,’ the Israeli leader said in a 39-minute speech to the U.S. Congress that offered a point-by-point critique of Obama’s Iran diplomacy.

“In an appearance that strained U.S.-Israeli relations and was boycotted by dozens of Obama’s fellow Democrats, Netanyahu said Iran’s leadership was ‘as radical as ever,’ could not be trusted and the deal being worked out with world powers would not block Iran’s way to a bomb ‘but paves its way to a bomb.’ ‘This deal won’t be a farewell to arms, it will be a farewell to arms control … a countdown to a potential nuclear nightmare,’ Netanyahu told lawmakers and visitors in the House of Representatives. His speech drew 26 standing ovations…

“Obama refused to meet Netanyahu, saying that doing so just ahead of Israel’s March 17 general election would be seen as interference. Aides to Obama said he would not be watching the speech, broadcast live on U.S. television [but he did announce that he had read Netanyahu’s transcript of the speech]. Underscoring the partisan divide over Netanyahu’s address, House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said afterwards that as a friend of Israel, she was near tears during his speech, calling it ‘an insult to the intelligence of the United States.’ She said she was ‘saddened by the condescension toward our knowledge of the threat posed by Iran.’…

“Netanyahu, who has hinted at the prospect of unilateral strikes as a last resort on Iranian nuclear sites, told lawmakers Israel would stand alone if needed…

Even though the New York Times Editorial Board and many other left-liberal commentators, including President Obama himself, criticized the speech as unconvincing and lacking true alternatives, we feel that his speech was very persuasive and convincing. The alternative to a deal with Iran was very obvious and clearly spelled out: No deal! Why should there be a deal with Iran, if it does not guarantee peace and safety in the Middle East for all parties? Netanyahu also stated that America’s desire to fight with Iran against ISIS was ill-conceived, because “the enemy of your enemy is your enemy.” He said:

“Iran and ISIS are competing for the crown of militant Islam… Both want to impose a militant Islamic empire, first on the region, then on the entire world. They just disagree who will be the ruler of this empire. In this deadly game of thrones, there is no place for America or Israel…When it comes to Iran and ISIS, the enemy of your enemy is your enemy.”

To counter Nancy Pelosi’s comments, it truly appears that the Obama Administration and many lawmakers, as well as a majority of Americans who favor a deal with Iran, are indeed oblivious to the danger of a nuclear Iran.

Will Israel Stand Alone?

Breitbart wrote on March 3:

“Netanyahu got to the heart of his message: absolutely devastating Obama’s reported Iranian peace deal. In the shadow of the Jewish holiday of Purim, when a Jewish woman pled for the survival of her people from the genocidal intentions of a Persian anti-Semite, Netanyahu echoed Queen Esther’s language: ‘I feel profound obligation to speak to you about a threat to the survival of my country and the survival of my people, Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons. In nearly 4,000 years of history, many have tried repeatedly to destroy the Jewish people.’”

Netanyahu added:

“Today the Jewish people face another attempt by yet another Persian potentate to destroy us. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei spews the oldest hatred, the oldest hatred of anti-Semitism with the newest technology. He tweets that Israel must be annihilated — he tweets. You know, in Iran, there isn’t exactly free Internet. But he tweets in English that Israel must be destroyed. For those who believe that Iran threatens the Jewish state, but not the Jewish people, listen to Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, Iran’s chief terrorist proxy. He said: If all the Jews gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of chasing them down around the world.”

The article in Breitbart continued:

“Netanyahu concluded by citing the Bible, in Hebrew. He quoted the parting words of Moses as the Jews were about to enter the land of Israel, from Deuteronomy 31:6: ‘Moses gave us a message that has steeled our resolve for thousands of years…Be strong and resolute, neither fear nor dread them. My friends, may Israel and America always stand together, strong and resolute, may we neither fear nor dread the challenges ahead, may we face the future with confidence, strength and hope. May God bless the state of Israel, and may God bless the United States of America.’

“The controversy over the politics of the speech is over. Now the world must answer Netanyahu’s question: will Israel have to stand alone?”

It might very well have to.

The Deadly Dangers of Smoking

Newsmax wrote on March 1:

“When beloved actor Leonard Nimoy was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment eight days before his death, it signified his final struggle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a condition he had battled for years. Although the ‘Star Trek’ star had quit smoking 30 years earlier, Nimoy said that the damage from the habit didn’t surface until later. And when it did, the results were tragically lethal. The 83 year old, best known for his portrayal as Mr. Spock, died in his Bel-Air home on Friday…

“There are three degrees of COPD – mild, moderate, and severe. When COPD becomes severe, it causes flare-ups, which are called ‘exacerbations.’ With each exacerbation, COPD patients lose more lung tissue, further eroding their breathing capacity. Nimoy was apparently suffering a flare-up when he was rushed to the hospital on Feb. 19 complaining of chest pain…

“In the last year of his life, Nimoy made it his mission to warn others about COPD, often taking to social media to warn against smoking, which is the primary cause of the illness. Although he was able to make public appearances during his fight with the ailment, he used an oxygenator, a portable device that helps people with COPD breathe. COPD is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. behind heart disease and cancer.

“Before he quit in the 1980s, Nimoy was a three-pack-a-day smoker. He said he was shocked to be diagnosed with COPD decades after quitting… Last year he took to Twitter in an effort to help others avoid his fate: ‘Smokers, please understand. If you quit after you’re diagnosed with lung damage it’s too late… learn my lesson. Quit now. LLAP (Live long and prosper).’”

Smoking is a deadly killer… but far too many, following their own carnal desires, do not want to see this, until it is too late.

British Flower Supermarket Giant Prohibits the Use of the Word “Christ’ in Gift Messages

The Daily Mail wrote on March 1:

“The words ‘Christ’ and ‘Jesus Christ’ have been placed on a list of banned words by Marks & Spencer and cannot be used in gift messages. Customers buying a bunch of flowers who try to add a free message containing them are prevented from completing their order. An on-screen notification, which pops up if any blocked words are entered, reads: ‘Sorry, there’s something in your message we can’t write.’… ‘Christ’ and ‘Jesus Christ’ join other banned words including ‘f***’ and ‘gay’ – but some terms including jihad, Buddha and Allah are accepted. ‘Terrorist’ and ‘d**k’ can also be included in messages. The policy emerged earlier today after one customer was stopped from buying a £35 bouquet for a funeral because she said in the gift message that it was from a family in ‘Christ Church Teddington’…

“When Gerardine Stockford, 53, phoned customer services an employee told her that it must be a blocked word. Lord Carey, a former Archbishop of Canterbury, was shocked. He said: ‘If Christ becomes an offensive word in a Christian land then all of us should be alarmed.’ Despite the supermarket giant being made aware of the issue yesterday, it still has not changed the facility. A spokesman for Marks & Spencer said: ‘An automatic phrase checker is in place to prevent the use and misuse of certain words and it includes hundreds of words of varying nature. ‘The words Jesus and Christ are included to prevent their misuse.’”

This is SO ridiculous and offensive at the same time!

“War Is a Solution to Nothing”

The Huffington Post wrote on February 22:

“As President Barack Obama presented his proposed Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) to Congress, he declared, ‘I do not believe America’s interests are served by endless war, or by remaining on a perpetual war footing.’ Yet Obama’s proposal asks Congress to rubber-stamp his endless war against anyone he wants, wherever he wants. Obama has launched 2,300 airstrikes in Iraq and Syria since August 8, 2014.

“In his six years as president, he has killed more people than died on 9/11 with drones and other forms of targeted killing in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia — countries with which the United States is not at war. Obama’s proposed AUMF contains some purported limitations, but their vagueness amounts to a blank check to use U.S. military force in perpetuity… [It] contains no geographical limitation. It would authorize the use of military force anywhere in the world…

“But even if Congress were to authorize Obama’s wars in Iraq and Syria, those wars would still violate the UN Charter. The charter requires all states to settle their disputes peacefully, and to refrain from the use of armed force except when acting in self-defense or with the blessing of the Security Council. The Syrian government has not consented to Obama’s bombing in Syria.

“And although the Iraqi government has blessed Obama’s bombing campaign, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ‘is a puppet government that Obama installed and therefore has no authority under international law to consent to U.S. military operations in Iraq,’ according to law professor Francis Boyle… Indeed, ISIS is a direct outgrowth of the U.S. invasion and installation of former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shiite Muslim who viciously killed, disappeared and tortured Sunni Muslims after most U.S. troops pulled out…

“We need to stop using military force as a solution to everything — indeed, it is a solution to nothing… We cannot rely on Congress or the president to reverse the course of rampant U.S. militarism…”

For more information, please read our free booklet, “Should You Fight in War?” 

The Founding Fathers and Islam

Breitbart wrote on February 20:

“‘Here in America,’ Obama stated, ‘Islam has been woven into the fabric of our country since its founding.’… [He] stated in 2006, ‘Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation – at least, not just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, and a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.’… [He] said in April 2009, ‘Although, as I mentioned, we have a very large Christian population, we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values…’

“That does not mean that there were no Muslims in America at the founding — many African slaves were originally Muslim, and were forcibly converted from that faith. But to say that Islam as a religion has been ‘woven into the fabric of our country since our founding’ is simply false. The first wave of Muslim immigrants to the United States did not begin until well after the Civil War. The first mosque in the United States was not built until 1915, by most reports.

“Islam had zero impact on the founders or their philosophy – less than zero, given that the founders despised the religion, or what they knew of it. President Obama fictionalized this history at an Iftar dinner in 2012: ‘… Thomas Jefferson once held a sunset dinner here with an envoy from Tunisia — perhaps the first Iftar at the White House, more than 200 years ago. And some of you, as you arrived tonight, may have seen our special display, courtesy of our friends at the Library of Congress — the Koran that belonged to Thomas Jefferson. And that’s a reminder, along with the generations of patriotic Muslims in America, that Islam — like so many faiths — is part of our national story.’

“Well, not so much. That magical ‘first Iftar’ was a meeting between Sidi Solima Mellimelli, an emissary of the brutal Barbary pirates, and the president. Jefferson had over Mellimelli in an attempt to bribe him into submission after the USS Constitution captured ships from the [bay] of Tunis. Mellimelli requested food, lodgings, and concubines. Jefferson already knew of Islam, having been educated in 1786 after Barbary pirates attempted to blackmail America into monetary tribute. At that time, the Barbary emissary justified piracy with reference to the Koran, according to a report from Jefferson: ‘The Ambassador answered us that it was founded on the Laws of the Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners.’

“John Quincy Adams, writing of these negotiations, stated: ‘The precept of the Koran is perpetual war against all who deny that Mahomet is the prophet of God. The vanquished may purchase their lives, by the payment of tribute; the victorious may be appeased by a false and delusive promise of peace; and the faithful follower of the prophet may submit to the imperious necessities of defeat: but the command to propagate the Moslem creed by the sword is always obligatory, when it can be made effective. The commands of the prophet may be performed alike, by fraud, or by force.’

“Quincy Adams would later lament, ‘Such is the spirit, which governs the hearts of men, to whom treachery and violence are taught as principles of religion.’… philosophers upon whom the founders relied had similarly negative views of Islam. Montesquieu wrote that the Turks were despotic. William Blackstone wrote that religion could be used for despotism, as shown by ‘terrible ravages committed by the Saracens in the east, to propagate the religion of Mahomet.’…

“The historical record demonstrates that Islam had virtually no role in the foundation of the early Republic outside of being used as a negative comparison point for freedom and self-government. President Obama is obviously rewriting history…”

The idea that Islam had a determining role or positive influence on America’s founding fathers is laughable and plain ridiculous. The question must be asked as to why President Obama keeps bringing up Islam in a positive way, while refusing to attack and strongly condemn radical Islam and to identify the ISIS hordes as “Islamic terrorists” (see the next articles).

“The Wave of Muslim Immigration Is Not Going to Stop”

The website of investors.com reported on February 19:

“France, Belgium and now even liberal Denmark regret letting in so many immigrants from Muslim countries. Their swelling Islamic communities have become breeding grounds for terrorists. So why is the U.S. opening the floodgates to foreign Muslims?… Vice President Joe Biden assured Muslim groups… that the ‘wave’ of Muslim immigration is ‘not going to stop.’…

“Between 2010 and 2013, the Obama administration imported almost 300,000 new immigrants from Muslim nations — more immigrants than the U.S. let in from Central America and Mexico combined over that period… Many of the recent Muslim immigrants are from terrorist hot spots like Iraq, where the Islamic State operates. From 2010-2013, Obama ushered in 41,094 Iraqi nationals from there. Now the State Department says it will quadruple the number of refugees brought here from Syria, where IS is headquartered…

“Top U.S. counterterror officials say terrorists could easily slip into the country from Iraq and Syria, in spite of promised screening procedures for such refugees… House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mike McCaul called the new policy ‘a federally sanctioned welcome party to potential terrorists.’…

“The British press is reporting that IS has threatened to release a huge wave of migrants from Libya across the Mediterranean disguised as refugees to cause chaos in Europe. Who’s to say they aren’t setting a similar immigration bomb for America? Authorities can’t even get a handle on homegrown IS jihadists who are already in America… The FBI director says he’s got open cases against IS suspects in every state but Alaska. More than 100 American Muslims have hooked up with the vicious terror group in Syria or Iraq, and at least a dozen fighters already have returned to America and may be forming sleeper cells to attack the homeland…

“After an influx of Syrian and other Muslim immigrants, a recent poll found that 40% of Germans say they don’t feel at home in their own country thanks to ‘Islamization.’”

Austria Passes Dangerous “Law on Islam”

Reuters reported on February 25:

“Austria’s parliament passed a law on Wednesday that seeks to regulate how Islam is administered, singling out its large Muslim minority for treatment not applied to any other religious group. The ‘Law on Islam’ bans foreign funding for Islamic organizations and requires any group claiming to represent Austrian Muslims to submit and use a standardized German translation of the Koran.

“The law met with little opposition from the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic population, was backed by Austria’s Catholic bishops, and was grudgingly accepted by the main Muslim organization. But it upset Turkey’s state religious establishment. ‘We want an Islam of the Austrian kind, and not one that is dominated by other countries,’ said Sebastian Kurz, the 28-year-old conservative foreign minister – formally the minister for foreign affairs and integration – who is easily Austria’s most popular politician.

“Austria’s half a million Muslims make up about 6 percent of the population and are overwhelmingly the families of Turkish migrant workers. Many of their imams are sent and financed by Turkey’s state religious affairs directorate, the Diyanet. Mehmet Gormez, head of the Diyanet, said before the law was passed that ‘with this draft legislation, religious freedoms in Austria will have fallen back a hundred years’.

“Austria’s biggest Islamic organization, IGGiO, accepted the law, but its youth arm opposed it, as did the Turkish-financed Turkish-Islamic Union in Austria (ATIB), which runs many mosques and has vowed to challenge the bill in the Constitutional Court…”

Deutsche Welle added on February 25:

“Austria’s parliament has banned funding of some Muslim clergy by countries like Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Two years in the works, a law passed Wednesday requires Austria’s 450 Muslim groups to demonstrate a ‘positive approach toward society and the state’ to continue receiving official licensing…

“‘I say that Islam does not belong to Austria, neither culturally nor historically,’ FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache said in parliament on Wednesday. [He and his party voted “No” to the new law.] He had wanted the law to require imams to preach in German and to ban burqas and minarets…’”

These are indeed VERY dangerous developments. With all of this faulty and flawed reasoning, other religious minorities can be easily targeted as well.

“Obama Is on a Rampage”

The New York Post wrote on February 22:

“He can’t bring himself to call Islamic terrorists what they are, but President Obama finally said something with which we can all agree. Speaking of his remaining time in office, he said: ‘Two years is a long time.’… ‘Two years is also the time in which we’re going to be setting the stage for the next presidential election and the next 10 years of American policy,’ he told wealthy ­donors in San Francisco. ‘So I intend to run through the tape and work really hard, and squeeze every last little bit of change.’

“That makes the next two years extremely dangerous. Not just for Americans, but also for people around the world who count on us for their security and well-being. It is party time for the bad guys. Imagine you are the head of Islamic State or al Qaeda. Or you are Vladimir Putin, the head of China or the ayatollah of Iran. You know Obama has spent six years shrinking America’s footprint and abandoning allies, leaving behind the vacuums you are filling. It’s already a bonanza, and his vow to double down over the next two years means you will never get a better opportunity to make more hay…

“To cite one example, what if Putin isn’t content with the parts of Ukraine he’s taking and wants a piece of the Baltic states? Unlike battered Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania belong to NATO, and its treaty obliges all members to ­respond if one is attacked. Given Obama’s fondness for ‘leading from behind,’ Putin probably assumes America would do nothing if he gobbled up the ­Baltics. If Putin does that and gets away with it, NATO would be kaput. It protected Europe from the Soviet Union and Russia since World War II, but it would die a quick death if peripheral members were carved up with impunity. Not incidentally, such a move would consign millions of people to life ­under Russia’s boot.

“The domestic implications of a rogue Obama rampage are less dramatic, but not less radical. From the economy to regulations on business and the Internet, he could do so much damage that would take years to correct, if correction were possible. Consider immigration. The ruling by a Texas federal judge to temporarily halt the president’s executive order on mass amnesty is leading open-border advocates to vow they won’t be stopped. Threats of violence hang in the air…”

America is in trouble, domestically and internationally. This is all in fulfillment of biblical prophecy. For more information, view our recent StandingWatch program, “Why America’s and Europe’s Betrayal of Ukraine?”.  Note also the next article on Ukraine.

Ukraine at the Brink of Bankruptcy Amidst Ongoing Fighting

The Washington Post wrote on February 23:

“Ukraine’s currency touched record lows Monday as continued violence in the rebel-held east fueled pessimism about the country’s economic future. The currency slump came as the Ukrainian military said it will not pull back its heavy arms from the front lines until attacks by pro-Russian rebels cease altogether… A pullback of heavy weaponry is a key step in a cease-fire deal reached this month, but both sides have said that fighting is continuing, casting doubt on efforts to quell the 10-month-old conflict…

“Ukraine’s currency has dropped 42 percent this month and is down 69 percent in the year since President Viktor Yanukovych fled office after months of pro-European street protests. The Ukrainian central bank on Monday announced new measures to stem the losses, imposing limits on the ability of Ukrainian businesses to purchase foreign currency…

“The plunge calls into question Ukraine’s ability to repay money borrowed from global creditors. The central bank’s reserves of foreign currency are depleted, raising the prospect that the nation could soon go bankrupt… Germany, the primary Western driver of the cease-fire deal, said Monday that it was losing hope about the peace plan’s prospects… The currency plunge came a day after a bombing at a pro-Ukrainian rally in the government-controlled city of Kharkiv that killed two people. A third victim, a 15-year-old boy, died Monday of wounds suffered at the rally, city authorities said. A spate of attacks in Ukrainian-held cities has sparked fears even in areas far away from the harshest fighting in the east.”

Deutsche Welle reported on February 25:

“Secretary of State John… Kerry told lawmakers in Washington during congressional hearings that Russia and pro-Moscow separatists were not respecting the Minsk ceasefire plan… Kerry had said a day earlier that Moscow was telling ‘lies … to my face’ about its activities in eastern Ukraine…”

Now Compulsory Military Service in Lithuania because of Fear of Russia

The Times wrote on February 24:

“Lithuania today announced the return of military conscription to counter the immediate threat to its security posed by mounting Russian aggression in the region. The move is the latest indication of rising tension in the Baltic States which, like Ukraine, border Russia and contain significant Russian minority populations. Michael Fallon, the British Defence Secretary, said last week that President Putin poses a ‘real and present danger’ to the three former Soviet nations, all of them now members of Nato and the European Union.”

The Guardian added on February 24:

“Lithuania, like its Baltic neighbors Latvia and Estonia, was occupied for five decades by the Soviet Union before regaining independence in 1991. It abolished conscription in 2008, four years after joining Nato…

“The three Baltic nations have watched with increasing trepidation as Moscow has flexed its muscles, with a recent increase of reported airspace violations in the region where part of Lithuania’s border runs along the Russian Kaliningrad enclave with important military bases.

“Last month, the defense ministry published a booklet advising citizens how to react in case of war, prompted by what the defense minister, Juozas Olekas, called ‘Russia’s aggression against its neighbors, presently in Ukraine.’”

We can expect that other European countries will re-introduce compulsory military service when they feel threatened by a real or imagined enemy. The same could be true for the USA. It is therefore important that young Christian men and women who claim to be conscientious objectors are thoroughly familiar with the biblical teaching on war and military service and that they have a personal sincere conviction, based on Scripture, preventing them to join the military or to fight in war. In our Statement of Beliefs, we point out the following under “Relationship with God”:

“We believe that a Christian’s duty to God is of a superior and higher nature than our duty arising from any human relationship (Acts 4:18-20; 5:27-29). We therefore, following Biblical commands and principles, do not participate in voting for national elections or jury duty, and we do not join the military. On the other hand, we do not object to participation in civil service. If compelled by governments to enlist, we refuse to serve in any capacity that would violate the spirit of the sixth commandment against murder (Exodus 20:13; Matthew 5:43-48; Romans 12:17-21).”

Obama or Netanyahu— “Now We Know Who to Believe on Iran”

The Times of Israel’s David Horovitz wrote on February 23:

“In an op-ed on February 9, I suggested that Israel’s opposition leader, Isaac Herzog, should stand alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before Congress on March 3, to underline ‘their common conviction that the regime in Tehran cannot be appeased and must be faced down.’ On Monday evening, as details of the looming US-led deal with Iran emerged from Geneva, Israel’s most respected Middle East affairs analyst, Channel 2 commentator Ehud Ya’ari, made precisely the same suggestion. So problematic are the reported terms of the deal, Ya’ari indicated, that Israel’s two leading contenders in the March 17 elections, Netanyahu and Herzog, need to put aside their differences and make plain to US legislators that the need to thwart such an accord crosses party lines in Israel and stands as a consensual imperative.

“After anonymous sources in Jerusalem leaked to Israeli reporters in recent weeks the ostensible terms of the deal being hammered out, various spokespeople for the Obama administration contended that the Netanyahu government was misrepresenting the specifics for narrow political ends. They sneered that Israel didn’t actually know what the terms were. And they made the acknowledgement — the astounding acknowledgement for a United States whose key regional ally is directly and relentlessly threatened with destruction by Iran — that the Obama administration is consequently no longer sharing with Jerusalem all sensitive details of the Iran talks.

“And yet among the terms of the deal being reported by the Associated Press from Geneva on Monday are precisely those that were asserted in recent weeks by the Israeli sources, precisely those that were scoffed at by the Administration. Centrally, Iran is to be allowed to keep 6,500 centrifuges spinning, and there will be a sunset clause providing for an end to intrusive inspections in some 10-15 years. If anything, indeed, some of the terms reported by the AP are even more worrying than those that were leaked in Jerusalem: ‘The idea would be to reward Iran for good behavior over the last years of any agreement,’ the AP said, ‘gradually lifting constraints on its uranium enrichment program and slowly easing economic sanctions.’ There is also no indication of restrictions on Iran’s missile development — its potential delivery systems.

“In his TV commentary on Monday night, Ya’ari highlighted that the deal could further embolden Iran as it expands its influence throughout this region, and he noted that the isolation of Iran even by Israel’s key allies was already cracking, with the firmly pro-Israel foreign minister of Australia, Julie Bishop, announcing an imminent visit to Tehran — the first Australian foreign minister to make such a trip in a decade.

“Ya’ari also noted that the International Atomic Energy Agency has made clear that it lacks the tools to effectively monitor the kind of nuclear program that Iran will be allowed to maintain under the emerging deal — incapable, that is, of ensuring that Iran does not fool the West as it has done in the past.

“The devil of such deals is generally in the detail. But the devil, here, is in the principle as well — the principle that the P5+1 is about to legitimize Iran as a nuclear threshold state. From there, it will be capable of rapidly breaking out to the bomb, well aware that the international community lacks the will to stop it.

“The Obama administration would evidently like to believe that 10-15 years from now, the ayatollahs will be gone, Iran will have a different leadership, and the threat of what Netanyahu has repeatedly called ‘the most dangerous regime in the world attaining the most dangerous weapon in the world’ will have passed. But if the deal now taking shape is indeed finalized, the chances of the regime being ousted from within, or effectively confronted from without, will drastically recede. This deal, indeed, will help cement the ayatollahs in power, with dire consequences for Israel, relatively moderate Arab states, and the free world.

“It goes without saying that this weekend’s developments in Geneva have only bolstered Netanyahu’s determination to sound the alarm before Congress next Tuesday. It’s also still clearer today why the Obama administration has been so anxious to query his motives and seek to discredit his concerns. I headlined my February 9 op-ed ‘Who to believe on Iran: Obama or Netanyahu?’ I think we know now.”

Tensions Between White House and Netanyahu Intensify

The Washington Post wrote on February 25:

“Tensions between the White House and Benjamin Netanyahu intensified Wednesday as top administration officials condemned the Israeli prime minister’s plan to address Congress next week, while Netanyahu accused six world powers, including the United States, of ‘giving up on their commitment’ in negotiations to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

“The unusually public spat marked one of the lowest points in a relationship that has long bonded the two countries. Although the new round of recriminations reflected the frosty personal relations between President Obama and Netanyahu, it came at a critical juncture in multilateral talks…

“The latest volley of high-level criticism began when national security adviser Susan E. Rice… condemned Netanyahu’s decision to accept the invitation of House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) to appear at a joint session of Congress shortly before the Israeli elections… Netanyahu fired back. ‘I respect the White House and the president of the United States, but on such a critical topic that could determine whether we exist or not, it is my duty to do everything to prevent this great danger to the state of Israel,’ Netanyahu said…

“No love has been lost between Obama and Netanyahu. ‘This is clearly the most dysfunctional relationship between an American and Israeli leader,’ said Aaron David Miller, a vice president at the Wilson Center and a former U.S. negotiator and adviser to both Republican and Democratic administrations. Moreover, he said, ‘the durability is troubling.’ He said that earlier tensions preceded incremental peace accords but that Obama and Netanyahu remain far apart on basic issues and that Kerry’s efforts to bring Israel and Palestinians together failed…

“Meanwhile, leaked details about Iran nuclear negotiations have made many lawmakers more interested in what Netanyahu has to say…”

Republicans: Gay Marriages Not Worth Fighting Against…

The Huffington Post reported on February 22:

“A divide over gay marriage is emerging in the potential Republican presidential primary field, with candidates falling into one of two camps: those who want to admit defeat on a key social cause and move on, and those who want to keep fighting… A narrow majority of Republican voters polled in early caucus and primary states… said it was unacceptable for candidates to oppose gay marriage… Some GOP analysts worry that a noisy gay marriage debate could pose a threat to the party’s eventual nominee, if it means that Republicans are unable to attract young voters…

“Thirty-six states, including the early-voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, have legalized gay marriage since Massachusetts became the first to do so more than a decade ago. Nearly 72 percent of the US population now lives in a state where gay marriage is legal. The Supreme Court is expected to decide this summer whether gay marriage should be permitted nationwide…

“To be sure, none of the potential Republican candidates have come out in support of same-sex unions. But several, including former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, and Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, have softened their rhetoric, seeking to turn the focus to other issues and avoid alienating voters over a lost cause…

“Others planning to run are not ready to yield. They insist their socially conservative principles are more important than political pragmatism or public opinion, and they plan to make gay marriage a central topic in the 2016 debate. ‘It’s like asking someone who’s Jewish to start serving bacon-wrapped shrimp in their deli,’ former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee… recently told CNN…

“Senator Ted Cruz of Texas is pushing for a constitutional amendment that would leave it up to states to define marriage, and would prevent the federal government from getting involved. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, former US senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, and former Texas governor Rick Perry have also been among the most vociferous opponents of gay marriage…

“In a new NBC News and Marist College poll, about half of Republican voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina say candidates who oppose gay marriage are ‘mostly’ or ‘totally’ unacceptable…

“Governor Chris Christie, who supports civil unions but not gay marriage, said last year that the issue had been ‘settled’ in New Jersey. Although Democrat Hillary Clinton supports gay marriage, she has also said that it should be left up to the states to decide. For her the issue is complicated by the fact that her husband, President Clinton, signed into law several pieces of legislation that gay-rights groups oppose, including the Defense of Marriage Act, which barred same-sex couples from receiving federal marriage benefits. The Supreme Court ruled DOMA unconstitutional in 2013.”

In light of this cowardice and hypocrisy, the question ought to be asked as to why true Christians would even want to vote in governmental presidential elections.

“German Chancellor Merkel Meets with Pope Francis”

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 21:

“Pope Francis has received German Chancellor Angela Merkel for a private audience at the Vatican. The talks focused on the fight against poverty and international crises, including the conflict in eastern Ukraine… Angela Merkel described the talks as ‘enriching’ and wide-ranging, covering the alleviation of poverty, the role of women in developing countries, equality, and Germany’s agenda for the upcoming Group of Seven (G7) summit in the southern German state of Bavaria in June.

“Germany currently chairs the G7 group of major industrialized states, consisting of Germany, the United States, Canada, Japan, France, Italy and Britain. Russia had been a part of what was formerly known as the G8, before it was excluded over Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region…

“Following her audience with the pope – the second since he was appointed – Merkel met Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and German ambassador to the Holy See, Annette Schavan. Schavan, a former German education minister, was considered one of Merkel’s close confidantes before she resigned from her post amid a plagiarism scandal in 2013.”

This relationship between Germany and the Vatican is quite interesting, in the light of biblical prophecy. For further information, please read our free booklet, “The Ten European Revivals of the Ancient Roman Empire.”

A European Army?

News.at wrote on February 25 that German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday in a speech that she hopes for a European army. She added that she does not believe that it will be accomplished soon. The Austrian website also mentioned that SPÖ-EU-deputy Josef Weidenholzer advocated recently the creation of a European army.

Der Spiegel Online had published an interview with Ursula von der Leyen on January 28, stating that “Germany has been heavily criticized in recent years for not doing its share in hotspots around the world. [von der Leyen] says that it is time for Berlin to take more responsibility. She also dreams of a European army.”

Quite to the surprise of many observers, the creation of a European army is in no way that far off.

“Greek Bailout Extension Receives Mixed Reactions Across Europe”

Deutsche Welle reported on February 21:

“Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ government agreed on Friday to receiving a four-month extension of their bailout, but no money to tide Greece over in the meantime…

“Liberal Danish newspaper Politiken wrote on Saturday that Europe had ‘avoided an unpredictable period with a weak economy by means of a temporary solution.’ The paper also criticized the eurozone members and governments for ‘giving Greece cheap loans to enable them to continue, in the belief that no eurozone country could ever face real problems.’ Although Denmark is a member of the European Union, it is not part of the 19-member euro common currency zone and continues to use Danish krones.

“Conservative Austrian paper Die Presse also warned on Saturday that ‘the compromise in Brussels was only half the battle,’ adding that the decision as to whether Greece leaves the eurozone will take off again in just a few months…

“German economist Hans-Werner Sinn, the head of the Munich-based Ifo economic institute, went as far as saying Greece should leave the eurozone…”

BBC News reported on February 24:

“Eurozone finance ministers have approved reform proposals submitted by Greece in order to obtain a four-month extension of its bailout. The Eurogroup said it had agreed to begin national procedures – parliamentary votes in several states to give the deal final approval. The measures offered by Greece include combating tax evasion and reforming the public sector…

“However, International Monetary Fund (IMF) head Christine Lagarde expressed reservations about the reform proposals…

“This is, in reality, a short-term fix for an economy in which public debt is unsustainable and growth negligible. And in four months’ time, Greece will be back at the top of the agenda as the eurozone attempts to work out a long-term strategy for its most debt-stricken member.”

The Destruction of Pforzheim—“the Dresden Nobody Knows About”

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 23:

“At the 70th anniversary of the Allied bombing of Dresden [which caused the death of about 25,000 people—not 600,000, as some falsely claim], even the German president showed up. In Pforzheim, a site of comparable destruction, no high-rankers were present – just people out to promote peace… Thousands of people gathered here on the Platz des 23. Februar (February 23 Square) to remember the day their city was obliterated in 1945…

“The 22 minutes [of hellfire] was figurative for inconceivable suffering and destruction. Between 19:50 and 21:12 local time on February 23, 1945, RAF aircraft dropped 1575 tons of high explosive and incendiary bombs on Pforzheim, setting off a firestorm that is widely seen as one of the most devastating in military history. According to official statistics, 17,600 people died, and tens of thousands of others were injured. The market square and old town area were destroyed and completely depopulated. In the entire city, over 80 percent of the architecture that existed in 1945 was defaced, making Pforzheim, proportionally speaking, the worst instance of destruction at the end of WWII.

“The allied destruction in Dresden and Hamburg has been well documented and remains in the public consciousness today, both in Germany and abroad. But Pforzheim doesn’t…

“The city of 80,000 did not possess any major munitions factories or heavy industry at all, although a tube-rolling plant owned by Metalindustrie Richter was in operation in Pforzheim at the time of the bombing. However, there were a host of technical manufacturing plants and factories that produced, among other things, periscope optics and radio and radar components for German submarines. The city was also a major road and rail communications center within the Baden area.

“Does this justify its almost complete annihilation?…

“A year after the end of WWII, author Alred Döblin, one of Germany’s most important modernists, wrote of Pforzheim: ‘Utterly vanished from the surface of the earth, razed completely to the ground, smashed to bits and pieces. No soul left here. Pforzheim – you have been wiped from the world’s atlas.’”

War is so useless and wrong… and it affects so many totally innocent people. Those who advocate war and “glory” in the fighting “for their country” should realize that their glorying is not good (1 Corinthians 5:6). Rather, war is a curse, leading to destruction (Romans 3:15-16). In doing so, they do not know the way to peace, nor is there any fear of God before their eyes (verses 17-18).

Holocaust Deniers Imprisoned in Germany

The Local reported on February 25:

“Sylvia Stolz, 51, was sentenced [by a Munich, Germany, court] to 20 months’ imprisonment for telling an anti-censorship congress in Switzerland in 2012 that the ‘so-called Holocaust’ under Adolf Hitler’s National-Socialist (Nazi) Party had never been legally defined or proven…. In an almost 100-minute address, video footage of which was used as evidence in her trial, Stolz stated before a crowd of 2,000 people there was no hard evidence of either Nazi plans or orders ‘to partially or wholly destroy Jewry’.

“Therefore it was in itself a breach of the law that people like her who defended others put on trial for Holocaust denial should be prosecuted, she argued. Denial of the Holocaust is illegal in Germany and several other EU countries. Stolz, whose husband is a jailed Holocaust denier, was sentenced on the same charge in 2008 and served three years and three months in a Bavarian jail before she was released in 2011. The following year she accepted an invitation to speak at a conference organized in Switzerland by the ‘Anti-Censorship Coalition’ (AZK).

“Three months after the event, a Swiss lawyer filed a criminal complaint, accusing her of transgressing Swiss race law by stating that the Holocaust was unproven in court and that findings on its location and time, perpetrators, methods and numbers killed were lacking. At Wednesday’s final hearing of the case at the Munich District Court, Judge Martin Rieder rejected the defendant’s claim that she was protected by her rights to freedom of speech. Hardly any other event in world history had been so well researched and documented as the extermination of Jews in Europe by the National Socialists, Rieder told the court…

“As well as a count of ‘incitement of the people’, Stolz’s sentence included time for unauthorized use of an official title. Documentation was produced which carried her name and a lawyer’s stamp, despite the fact that she was barred from practising after her earlier conviction. Stolz was previously jailed for statements she made while defending Ernst Zündel, a German publisher known for his Holocaust denials. Zündel was jailed in 2007 for the offence.

“Six million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust by the Nazi regime and its allies. Hundreds of thousands of members of other minorities, including Sinti and Roma, disabled and homosexuals also died in Nazi death camps.”

One might indeed question the constitutionality, wisdom and necessity of a law prohibiting the denial of the Holocaust and imprisoning those who do. On the other hand, there can be no doubt that the Holocaust did take place, and that millions upon millions of Jews and others, including ethnic and religious minorities, were brutally murdered by demonic Nazis. If true Christians were to deny those facts, they would be guilty of lying. The Bible tells us that true Christians will be persecuted for their belief and for righteousness sakes, but they are not to be found as evildoers—and lying is a terrible sin which is abhorred by God.

Majority of British Voters want to Leave the EU

Daily Mail wrote on February 22:

“More than half of [British] voters want to leave the European Union, a surprise new opinion poll shows. Some 51 per cent of people want to sever ties with Brussels, while 49 per cent want to remain in the EU… It comes as Norway warned Britain not to copy its own situation outside the EU, which leaves it unable to influence key economic rules it must abide by to trade with the 28-nation bloc.”

UK Plagued by Super Rats as Big as Cats

Mail On Line reported on February 22:

“… pest controllers revealed the shocking epidemic of mutant rats – some as big as cats – across the UK. The rodents, which have been seen across the country over the past year, are twice as large as normal species and cannot be killed with traditional substances… Last week, experts warned of a plague of super rats after it was revealed that pest control budgets have been slashed by a quarter by local authorities…

“The species has developed a genetic mutation which means substances approved by the EU to control rat populations has no effect on them… So-called ‘super rats’ are expected to outnumber humans two to one by next year. Genetic testing… has revealed that some rodents have developed a mutation that allows them to survive conventional poisons. In counties including Berkshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Kent, all the rats tested were found to have immunity to poison… In Southampton, 75 per cent of the rodents were found to have the genetic mutation.”

Historic Snowstorms in Boston

CBS reported on February 25:

“Boston eclipsed 100 inches of snow in a season for just the second time in recorded history Wednesday morning. Overnight snow showers brought the season total to 101.8 inches. That’s less than 6 inches shy of the all-time record of 107.6 inches set in the winter of 1995-96.

“Boston has smashed several snowfall records, including snowiest February and snowiest all-time month, as one snowstorm after another pummeled New England. It’s also been one of the coldest months ever, breaking the record in Boston for most sub-freezing days ever seen in February.

“The never-ending snow and cold has crippled the region’s public transportation system, collapsed roofs and has schools scrambling to make up all the snow days.”

As we pointed out in Update #673, Boston is one of America’s least Bible-minded cities.

Beware of Yoga

The Huffington Post wrote on February 25:

“Pat Robertson has some words of caution for anyone considering taking up yoga. Responding to a viewer’s question posed during Tuesday’s episode of ‘The 700 Club,’ Robertson claimed that the ancient mindfulness practice tricks people into ‘praying to a Hindu deity.’ During yoga lessons, he said, participants unknowingly repeat mantras ‘in Hindu’… ‘You don’t know what the Hindu says, but actually it’s a prayer to a Hindu deity…’ Robertson argued. ‘So you’re saying ‘kali, kali, kali,’ but you’re praying to a Hindu deity.’

“Yoga has a long and ancient connection to Hindu spirituality, but modern practice is often divorced from these religious roots… Swami Narayanda, director of the Sivananda Yoga Vendanta Center, told The Huffington Post in December: ‘The goal is to achieve better physical, mental and spiritual health and to achieve happiness through achieving peace of mind.’”

There is no question that Yoga is extremely dangerous when it involves repeating mantras, which are indeed the names of Hindu deities. The same is true for other Indian meditation methods, including Transcendental Meditation (TM). But even if the saying of Hindu words is not involved, the declared goal of achieving “spiritual health” through Yoga sounds very problematic.