Confusion and Chaos in Libya

The New York Times wrote on August 22:

“The struggle to… impose a new order on the capital presents a crucial test of the rebel leadership’s many pledges to replace Colonel Qaddafi’s bizarre autocracy with the democratic rule of law, and it could have consequences across the country and throughout the Arab world. Unlike the swift and largely peaceful revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, the Libyan insurrection was the first revolt of the Arab Spring to devolve into a protracted armed struggle, and at times threatened to descend into a civil war of factions and tribes… an ugly outcome here might discourage strong foreign support for democracy movements elsewhere.

“For now, governments throughout the West and the Middle East welcomed the rebels’ victory and pledged to assist them in the transition. The European Union said Monday that it had begun planning for a post-Qaddafi era, and Turkey’s foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said he would… meet with the rebel leader, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil… Egypt formally recognized the rebel Libyan government on Monday…”

More Than 30 Countries Recognize Libya’s NTC

Haaretz wrote on August 23:

“More than 30 countries now recognize the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) as the legitimate representative of Libya… [Five] countries moved to recognize the NTC on Tuesday alone – Iraq, Morocco, Bahrain, Oman and Nigeria – joining the United States and the major European Union countries…

“Of the other major powers, Russia has said it will not recognize the NTC as the sole legitimate representative of Libya, but it does recognize it as a party to the talks… China… has courted Libyan rebels by hosting their leaders and sending envoys for talks…

“Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday that his government recognized the NTC, as did the Arab League… Turkey first recognized the National Council as a legitimate representative of the Libyan people in June, but officials said that did not mean it was the only representative of the Libyan people…”

Deutsche Welle reported on August 25 that “The Arab League effectively recognized the Libyan rebels’ National Transitional Council (NTC) as the country’s legitimate representatives on Thursday, saying the NTC should take up Libya’s permanent seat on the council starting at a meeting of Arab ministers on Saturday.”

What’s Next for Libya?

Der Spiegel Online wrote on August 23:

“… what happens next? One thing is clear: An entirely new state will have to be created. Forty-two years of despotic leadership have left Libya with little to build upon. There are no democratic structures and there is no rule of law. Oil reserves might make Libya a potentially rich nation, but the economy and infrastructure are in a ruinous state. Old rivalries between the country’s tribes are already flaring…

“The Libyan National Transition Council, which hopes to lead the restructuring, will hardly be in a position to transform the country into a stable member of the global community without help. It is already dependent on massive support from outside, largely from Europe and the United States. But to what extent can the West intervene? With money alone, or possibly even with United Nations peacekeepers?

“It is a difficult situation… Libya could dissolve into a powder keg…”

Der Tagesspiegel added on August 23:

“One can only hope that the rebels won’t take revenge and massacre those who were loyal to their dictator. It will be difficult enough as it is to create a working democracy… That will require the ability to compromise and to engage in consensus — characteristics that neither side has shown so far.”

Too Early to Celebrate

USA Today wrote on August 23:

“… justifiable joy over the crumbling of Gadhafi’s regime… is tempered by the knowledge that the fall of a dictator is not the end of the story… In Iraq, as Americans know all too well, the celebrations in Baghdad’s Firdos Square and premature triumphalism over Saddam Hussein’s ouster were followed by a bloody insurgency, sectarian strife, an emboldened Iran and the rise of an al-Qaeda affiliate where none had existed. So it’s far too early for cheers…

“What will the new Libya look like? It surely won’t be Western-style democracy, and in the end it might not even be one country, fracturing instead along historical tribal lines. And in a nation that is 97% Sunni Muslim, the government will undoubtedly have an Islamic flavor. Things could still turn out badly, particularly if Islamists gain too much power…”

On August 23, USA Today published the following additional viewpoints:

“David Pryce-Jones, National Review Online: ‘The sight of the pick-up vans pouring into Tripoli is more frightening than encouraging. Here are milling crowds with weapons but no training in how to handle them, and no discipline. Unlike the spokesmen, (these) wild and angry men are firing guns, shouting about what they are going to do to Moammar Gadhafi and how great the future will be. Circumstances like these have ended down the centuries in revenge and murder. It is pointless to speak of law and order. After 40 years of one-man rule, there are no institutions or personalities with the authority for even minimum control. Those milling crowds look like anarchy.’

“Andrew Solomon, The New Yorker: ‘Few citizens will cry if Gadhafi hangs, but many fear that the eastern tribes, long disadvantaged inside Libya, will be harsh to the western ones if they win power. The Transitional National Council, which speaks for the rebellion, has been surprisingly effective at keeping the fighting going for six months, but to suggest that it represents the views of all Gadhafi’s opponents would be naive. It doesn’t even represent the views of all members of the established resistance in the eastern part of Libya, and it will surely not represent the interests of the many sophisticated Tripolitans who despise the leader, but also dislike the rebels’ ragtag chaos. The TNC has tended to describe itself in whatever terms will most effectively secure it NATO’s continued allegiance. These are nothing more than campaign promises, irrelevant to postwar leadership and reconstruction.’

“Daniel Serwer, Foreign Policy: ‘Establishing transparent, accountable, and inclusive institutions of governance will be the responsibility of the Transitional National Council (TNC)… The TNC’s inclinations are clearly in the democratic direction, but it has been rent by factionalism and disorganization. The killing of the rebel military chief Abdel Fatah Younes by what appears to be a dissident faction within the rebel ranks is only the most visible example of this internal chaos…’

“Marc Ginsberg, The Huffington Post: ‘Libya may be unified in the short run, but underneath the euphoria that will accompany the rebels’ victory, Libya is a very divided nation… There is real danger that the temporary alliance that formed the backbone of the rebel leadership will fracture, perhaps on tribal lines or religious lines, as competing tribes try to cut their own deals to gain influence and assert control over Libya’s all-important petroleum resources in the growing power vacuum.’”

As all of these articles show, it is far too early to celebrate, as Libya’s future looks grim and very uncertain. For further information, please read our Q&A on Libya and view our StandingWatch programs on the issue, “Libya in Prophecy” and “The Future of Libya”.

Germany Must Never Abstain Again…

The conservative paper, Die Welt, (as well as other German papers) used the “victory” of the rebels to blast the German government for their refusal to intervene militarily in Libya. Die Welt wrote on August 23:

“… the triumph of the Libyan revolution has made a mockery of German foreign policy… The triumph of the Libyan revolution leaves Germany’s foreign policy disgraced to its core. Without the air war waged by NATO — which Germany boycotted in a fit of national-pacifist arrogance — the victory of the rebels would have been impossible.”

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung added:

“Germany, which always professed to be a supporter of common European defense, withheld its solidarity from countries that are essential for this goal, using spurious arguments, and mainly motivated by domestic political considerations. This will do lasting damage to Berlin’s credibility on security policy. The foreign minister’s argument that Germany didn’t want to deploy ground troops was an excuse from the start — the British and French didn’t want to either, let alone the Americans; the pleasure being expressed now at the victory of the rebels seems all the more embarrassing.”

The business daily Financial Times Deutschland wrote:

“The rebels’ victory has many fathers, but none of them is German…”

Germany’s decision not to intervene militarily in Libya was the only sound and correct one, and it was supported by the overwhelming majority of the German people. The current celebrations of those who think that their military engagement was the right course of action will soon change their laughter into mourning and weeping. However, it is remarkable that portions of the German press, which was at first supportive of the German government’s decision not to intervene, is now suddenly attacking them for their inactivity, strongly implying that Germany should have intervened, and advocating the idea that they should do so in the future. As the media is far too often not reporting the news, but trying to “create” the news and influence and even change the opinions of the people, we will have to wait to see what such current mind games will accomplish. In this light, the following article is also very revealing.

Germany Unreliable?

The Local reported on August 24:

“Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl on Wednesday offered a blistering assessment of Germany’s current foreign policy, saying the country had become an erratic and unreliable partner to its closest allies… Germany’s longest-serving post-war leader slammed his successors Gerhard Schröder and Angela Merkel for ruining the country’s reputation overseas.

“’Germany’s hasn’t been a reliable power for several years – neither domestically nor abroad,’ said Kohl. ‘We have to be careful not to throw everything away. We desperately have to return to our former dependability.’ Kohl said recent events such as Germany’s decision not to support the efforts of its closest allies to oust Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi and the lacking German leadership during the eurozone debt crisis had left him dismayed…

“The former chancellor, who presided over Germany reunification in 1990, said the foreign policy of Merkel’s centre-right coalition under the direction of Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle appeared haphazard and without direction… Kohl also pointed to the decision last spring by US President Barack Obama to visit France and Poland yet skip over Germany as a sign just how much the current government had neglected transatlantic relations…

“The 81-year-old also warned about the dangers posed by the eurozone’s sovereign debt crisis. Bailing out heavily indebted euro members such as Greece was crucial to [the] future of the European Union, he said. ‘We have no choice if we don’t want Europe to break apart,’ Kohl said, adding he never would have allowed Greece to join the single currency had he still been chancellor at the time.”

Merkel and Westerwelle rejected Kohl’s criticism, while justifying their actions. In addition, as The Local reported on August 25, “Forbes magazine has named German Chancellor Angela Merkel the world’s most powerful woman, calling her the ‘undisputed’ leader of the European Union and head of its only ‘real global economy.’ Merkel, who has topped the list of the world’s 100 most powerful women in all but one of the years since she became chancellor in November 2005, beat out US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and, in 3rd place, Dilma Rousseff, who became Brazil’s first woman president on January 1 2011.”

The U.S. Costs of the Libyan War… So Far…

ABC News reported on August 22:

“The cost of U.S. military intervention in Libya has cost American taxpayers an estimated $896 million through July 31, the Pentagon said today. The price tag includes the amounts for daily military operations, munitions used in the operation and humanitarian assistance for the Libyan people. The U.S. has also promised $25 million in non-lethal aid to the Libyan Transitional National Council…

“While Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi appears on the way out, NATO says flight missions over Tripoli will continue… Over the past 12 days, U.S. planes have flown 391 sorties for a total of 5,316 since April 1…

“One significant offset to the cost of U.S. involvement in the flights worth noting is the sale of military equipment to allies also involved in the cause. Pentagon officials say the sale of ammunition, replacement parts, fuel, and technical assistance to allies since March has totaled $221.9 million…”

How much good could be done with those amounts of money which are currently wasted, to a large extent, for evil…

The Future of Libya’s Weapons of Mass Destruction

The Associated Press reported on August 23:

“No one can be sure who controls the Libyan government’s weapons stockpiles, a stew of deadly chemicals, raw nuclear material and some 30,000 shoulder-fired rockets that officials fear could fall into terrorists’ hands in the chaos of Moammar Gadhafi’s downfall or afterward. One immediate worry, U.S. intelligence and military officials say, is that Gadhafi might use the weapons to make a last stand.

“But officials also face the troubling prospect that the material, which was left under Gadhafi’s control by a U.S.-backed disarmament pact, could be obtained by al-Qaida or other militants even after a rebel victory is secured.”

Syria Next?

The Washington Post wrote on August 22:

“U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of failing to live up to his pledge to halt all security operations against protesters, saying the Syrian leader ‘has not kept his word.’… The Syrian government’s ongoing military crackdown on civilians has deepened Assad’s isolation, prompting President Obama and key European leaders from Britain, France and Germany to call for him to step down.

“The U.N. Human Rights Council, meanwhile, met Monday to discuss a draft resolution [which was subsequently adopted] calling for the establishment of a commission to investigate allegations of Syrian abuses… [The adopted resolution] ‘strongly condemns’ the government’s ‘continued grave and systematic human rights violations’ and insists that those responsible for the violence be held accountable for their crimes…

“’The United States deplores Assad’s campaign of ever-increasing brutality and terror against unarmed innocents, which may amount to crimes against humanity,’ Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council, told the Geneva-based council Monday. ‘The Assad regime has no intention of ceasing its violent attacks against the Syrian people.’”

Assad warned that any military intervention would have terrible repercussions. If a full-fledged war with foreign intervention breaks out in Syria, the devastating consequences would be indeed much more severe than in any of the rebelling Arab countries so far…

The Rocky Relationship between US Christian Fundamentalists and Israel

The Los Angeles Times wrote on August 23:

“[Glen Beck’s] rally in Jerusalem has triggered a debate over whether he should be embraced as a pro-Israel friend or condemned as a fanatic who has battled allegations of anti-Semitism. The visit is focusing renewed attention on the growing, and some say unlikely, alliance between right-wing Israelis and Christian fundamentalists in the U.S…

“Beck’s staunch support for Israeli control over Jerusalem and his criticism of Palestinians’ ambitions to create their own state have won him praise from many conservative Israeli leaders… But critics say Beck’s track record of controversial statements makes him an inappropriate ally. Last month he likened Norwegian youths gunned down at a political camp by an anti-Islamic extremist to ‘Hitler Youth.’

“Twice in the last year Beck has been denounced by the Anti-Defamation League for ‘bigoted’ and ‘horrific’ comments on his show, one likening Reform Judaism to ‘radicalized Islam’ and another in which he said Holocaust survivor and billionaire George Soros betrayed fellow Jews to Nazis. Under pressure from Jewish groups in the U.S., Beck apologized for the remark about Reform Judaism.

“He has several times had to fend off allegations of anti-Semitism. Last year he appeared to endorse the notion that Jews killed Jesus Christ; his list of the world’s nine most ‘dangerous’ people includes eight Jews…

“Beck’s visit reflects the partnership between conservative Israelis and some American Christian groups. So-called Christian Zionist groups and evangelical churches, such as Texas-based John Hagee Ministries, donate millions of dollars to help fund settlement construction in the West Bank and support Israel. The support comes, in part, from a belief among some Christian fundamentalists that Jews are God’s ‘chosen people’ and that a return of the Jewish people to the Holy Land and the rebuilding of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem are signs of the second coming. Beck, who converted to the Mormon faith in 1999, frequently discussed such end-of-the-world prophecies and biblical themes on his program.

“For conservative Israelis, the benefits of the alliance are more pragmatic. American evangelical groups have become a key source of tourist dollars and political and financial support, particularly as the divide has grown between American Jews, who remain predominantly liberal, and Israelis, who are shifting more toward the right.

“‘It’s a marriage of convenience,’ said Hebrew University political science professor David Ricci, an expert in U.S. relations. ‘Over the last 10 years, fewer liberals in the U.S. are willing to be clearly identified with the Israeli government.’ But Ricci and others see potential fault lines in the partnership. For starters, evangelicals are often active in missionary work, something Israelis do not tolerate…”

A Frightening Look at Egypt’s New Democracy

The Blaze wrote on August 22:

“While perhaps not shocking, it is profoundly disturbing that in the purportedly more ‘moderate’ Egypt of 2011, demonstrators took to the streets outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo with signs bearing swastikas and a message that read: ‘the gas chambers are ready.’

“It was feared by some that the fall of Mubarak would create a vacuum, thereby opening the door for an Israel-hostile regime to enter Egypt’s halls of power. If ‘democracy’ is what the Egyptian spring truly sought and cared about, then why the vitriolic calls for Jews to be sent to the gas chambers? And to whose gas chambers, exactly, are the protesters referring? Is this what Israel has to look forward to from its ever-changing neighbor?”

Powerful Earthquake Strikes US East Coast

The Associated Press reported on August 23:

“One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded on the East Coast of the United States shook buildings and rattled nerves on Tuesday and forced the evacuations of parts of the Capitol, the White House, and the Pentagon… The quake registered magnitude 5.8 and was centered about 40 miles northwest of Richmond, Va., the U.S. Geological Survey said.

“Two nuclear reactors at the North Anna Power Station, in the same county as the epicenter, were automatically taken off line by safety systems… The earthquake came less than three weeks before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, and it immediately triggered fears in both Washington and New York of something more sinister than a natural disaster…

“A magnitude of 5.8 would make the quake among the most powerful to strike the eastern United States. In 1897, a magnitude 5.9 quake was recorded at Giles County, Va., the largest on record in that state. East Coast earthquakes are far less common than in the West, but they tend to be felt over a broad area.”

Hurricane Irene

The Weather Channel reported on August 25 that “Our projected path map… continues to paint an ominous picture by pointing Hurricane Irene right in the direction of the East Coast this weekend. The latest computer model guidance confirms this threat and the first hurricane watches have been issued for the United States. The potential is real for the strongest hurricane hit on the Northeast in at least a couple decades this weekend!…

“Going back to 1851, there have been only 5 hurricanes whose centers of circulation have passed within 75 miles of New York City. The last hurricane within that distance from New York City was Hurricane Gloria 26 years ago… Similarly, only 10 hurricanes since 1851 have passed within 75 miles of Boston. The most recent was almost exactly 20 years ago: Hurricane Bob.”

BBC News added on August 25:

“The first hurricane of the Atlantic season is a category three storm, packing winds of 115mph (185km/h), and expected to get stronger… Irene, which is passing over the Bahamas, has already caused havoc throughout the Caribbean… The storm is growing larger and is expected to reach category four as it heads towards the US… The exact track of the hurricane is uncertain, but US emergency officials said the east coast from the Carolinas to New England was preparing for its impact.”

Strauss-Kahn Free, While US Justice System Failed Miserably

Der Spiegel wrote von August 23:

“Former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn is free after attempted rape charges against him were dropped in New York on Tuesday…

“The conservative daily Die Welt writes: ‘We don’t know what happened. In light of the alleged rape victim’s mendacity, the New York public prosecutors didn’t dare to find out the truth’…

“The conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘The fact remains that Strauss-Kahn’s public existence — as director of the IMF and promising French presidential candidate — is probably destroyed forever…’

“The Financial Times Deutschland writes: ‘This affair, staged like an entertainment spectacle, was a test for the US justice system. It failed miserably. Pre-judgment took place instead of presumed innocence, conjecture instead of clarification, public sensationalism instead of personal protection, and a pre-trial pillory took the place of an unbiased investigation…’

“The financial daily Handelsblatt writes: ‘If one lesson should be taken from the failed case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn it should be this: Have mercy on those who fall into the grasp of the US justice system. Even if the public prosecutors stopped a case that lacks foundation at the last minute, Strauss-Kahn’s case exposes the weaknesses of the American justice system … Those who don’t have the means to fight against this must fear injustice before the court. This goes to the question of why the statements of the alleged victim were sufficient, without previous examination, to set a martial trial in motion. A trial that appealed to the most base instincts of the public by staging the fall of one of the world’s most powerful men. If anything remains from the Strauss-Kahn case, hopefully it will be a lively debate over the American justice system.’”

Sadly, such a discussion won’t be forthcoming. In light of the miserable failure of the US “justice” system in the case at hand, platitudes like, “We see that our system works,” are just laughable, if they weren’t so tragic.

EU Must Become a Strong Fiscal Unity

The Local reported on August 21:

“The head of Germany’s Commerzbank Martin Blessing has called for a unified European economic policy organized by a finance minister to stabilize the single currency. The only alternative is to abandon the euro, he said. ‘We need a real European finance minister with the appropriate powers,’ Blessing wrote in a guest column in Sunday’s Welt am Sonntag newspaper…

“The top bank manager said there were only two ways out of the current debt crisis: a return to national currencies, or fiscal unity for the European Union. Blessing said the idea of a common economic government was the first step in the right direction, but that it was currently not being implemented forcefully enough…

“He said that only strong institutions with the power to intervene in the budget sovereignty of individual euro-states would help. He said only this would force national governments to stick to financial conditions. Blessing also suggested the EU should be allowed to impose taxes, and to construct a common debt agency to issue government bonds.”

If those two alternatives are correct, then we would have to conclude that such an autocratic unified European economic policy will be established for the reason alone that the core countries of the Eurozone will not replace the euro with national currencies.  In this context, Der Spiegel reported on August 24 that “the former head of the US Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, expects an end to the European common currency. ‘The euro is collapsing,’ Greenspan was quoted as saying at a Washington, D.C. symposium. Such an event would cause grave problems for European banks, whose security is already partially ‘questionable,’ he said.” Of course, Greenspan was fundamentally wrong before, and he is also wrong again in his remarks about the anticipated “collapse” of the euro.

Tony Blair Out Of Touch With Reality

Mail On Line reported on August 23:

“In a rare intervention in domestic politics, the former Prime Minister [Tony Blair] suggested Mr Cameron was wrong to blame the riots on a general ‘moral decline’ in Britain… He spoke out as it emerged that Scotland Yard believes up to 30,000 people were involved in looting, arson and criminal damage during the riots in London.

“Metropolitan Police figures show 3,296 crimes were committed during four days of rioting in the capital. Between five and ten people were linked with each crime, so police believe they may be looking at between 15,000 and 30,000 suspects… [Blair] said the main problem lay with alienated youths from dysfunctional families living ‘at odds with any canons of proper behaviour’… He went on: ‘The key is to understand that they aren’t symptomatic of society at large…’

“Mr Blair accepted that he made a mistake in 1993 when he suggested, as shadow home secretary, that the killing in Liverpool of two-year-old James Bulger had deeper causes in the breakdown of communities. He said at the time: ‘We cannot exist in a moral vacuum. If we do not learn and then teach the value of what is right and what is wrong, then the result is simply moral chaos which engulfs us all. I have no doubt that the breakdown of law and order is intimately linked to the break-up of a strong sense of community. And the break-up of community in turn is, to a crucial degree, consequent on the breakdown in family life.’

“The speech helped to undermine John Major’s Conservative government. Yesterday Mr Blair said: ‘I now believe that speech was good politics but bad policy.’”

Apart from the fact that Tony Blair’s present position makes little sense and is clearly unrealistic in the light of the established facts, he admits that he made earlier statements just for the sake of politics. Again, we observe the hypocritical and unrighteous character of political maneuverings, which establishes and reconfirms our dogmatic position that a true Christian must not have anything to do with such dirty endeavors, including voting in governmental elections for any of the political candidates.

The Curse of Obamacare

Newsmax wrote on August 12:

“Opponents of Obamacare rejoiced Friday after a federal appeals court in Atlanta ruled that the individual mandate at the heart of President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform legislation is unconstitutional. The 2-to-1 verdict in the 11th Circuit court in Atlanta sets up a dramatic, seemingly inevitable election-year showdown in the U.S. Supreme Court over the legality of Obama’s signature legislative initiative… In June, a Cincinnati court ruled in favor of the law… That ruling was notable because one of the judges in the majority was a Republican.

“So far, federal judges in Florida and Virginia have ruled against the act, while judges in Michigan and Virginia upheld it. Judges appointed by Democrats have consistently upheld the law, while Republican judges generally ruled against it. But Friday, one Republican judicial appointee and one Democratic judicial appointee concurred that the individual mandate is unconstitutional….

“‘The individual mandate was enacted as a regulatory penalty, not a revenue-raising tax, and is therefore unconstitutional,’ wrote Chief Judge Joel Dubina. ‘This economic mandate represents a wholly novel and potential[ly] unbounded assertion of congressional authority: The ability to compel Americans to purchase an expensive health insurance product they have elected not to buy, and to make them re-purchase that insurance product every month for their entire lives.’… Legal experts say it is almost inevitable now that the Supreme Court will hear the challenge to ObamaCare prior to the election.”

The White House Blog published the following statement on August 12:

“There has been no shortage of court cases regarding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. Before today, four courts, including the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, examined the health reform law and found it constitutional. Today, a different court ruled against the Affordable Care Act’s individual responsibility provision. We strongly disagree with this decision and we are confident it will not stand…

“Judge Sutton, a Judge in the Sixth Circuit who upheld the law, declared that the individual responsibility provision is constitutional and wrote: ‘In choosing how to regulate [people who choose to self-insure], Congress also did not exceed its power.’

“Judge Martin, another Judge who upheld the law in the Sixth Circuit, said the Affordable Care Act is constitutional under the Commerce Clause because ‘(1) virtually everyone requires health care services at some unpredictable point; and (2) individuals receive health care services regardless of ability to pay. Virtually everyone will need health care services at some point, including….those without health insurance’…

“For the 83% of Americans who have coverage and who are already taking responsibility for their health care, the Affordable Care Act will help insurance premiums to decrease over time.  And only those who are able to pay for health insurance will be responsible for obtaining it.  The Congressional Budget Office estimated that only 1 percent of all Americans would pay a penalty for not having health insurance in 2016.”

In the view of many, this last paragraph is illusionary. It is being pointed out that greedy health-“care” insurance companies are RAISING their rates in unheard-of amounts and with abominable frequency.  Not that they ever “need” to give any justification for their ungodly conduct, but one of the reasons they DO sometimes give is the very prospect of Obamacare, including its mandatory provisions for healthcare and the exclusion of denial because of pre-existing conditions. Of course, the frequently used excuse sounds like this: “As health insurer, we are impacted by costs that cannot be avoided. The cost of new medical technology, higher prescription drug costs, and higher utilization of medical services are just some of these cost factors.”

And so, it is being pointed out that our healthcare system is bleeding us to death and that it is literally in the process of DESTROYING more and more small companies and family businesses, and that the government stands idly by and does nothing about it—in fact, through its legislation, it contributes to the bleeding and makes matters much worse. And who in his right mind expects that insurance companies will ever voluntarily lower their rates? Sadly, many feel that Obamacare is a terrible curse for our country—not only because of its requirement of mandatory coverage.

Donald Trump was recently quoted as saying these profound words about Obamacare:

“Let me get this straight . . . We’re going to be ‘gifted’ with a health care Plan we are forced to purchase and fined if we don’t, which purportedly covers at least ten million more people, without adding a single new doctor, but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents, written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn’t understand it, passed by a Congress that didn’t read it but exempted themselves from it, and signed by a President who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn’t pay his taxes,  for which we’ll be taxed for four years before any benefits take effect, by a government which has already bankrupted Social Security and Medicare, all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that’s broke!!!”

The Poor Americans

CNN Money wrote on August 11:

“When the unexpected strikes, most Americans aren’t prepared to pay for it. A majority, or 64%, of Americans don’t have enough cash on hand to handle a $1,000 emergency expense… Only 36% said they would tap their rainy day funds for an emergency. The rest of the 2,700 people polled said that they would have to go to other extremes to cover an unexpected expense, such as borrowing money or taking out a cash advance on a credit card…

“Many respondents, 17%, said they would borrow money from friends or family. Another 17% said they would neglect other financial obligations — like a credit card bill or mortgage payment — in order to free up some funds. Alternatively, 12% of the respondents said they would have to sell or pawn some assets to come up with $1,000 and 9% said they would need to take out a loan. Another 9% said they would get a cash advance from a credit card…

“An earlier study… found that 30% of Americans have zero dollars in non-retirement savings. A separate study… found that 50% of Americans would struggle to come up with $2,000 in a pinch.” 

In light of facts like these, can we honestly say that we are still a nation which is greatly blessed by God?

Stocks Fall Hard Worldwide

USA Today wrote on August 18:

“Wall Street sank Thursday, with the Dow Jones industrial average plunging more than 500 points in early trading after renewed fears of global economic weakness rattled European and Asian markets… Thursday’s trading marked a return to the volatility that roiled the market earlier this month. And renewed economic fears spurred some bearish market strategists to warn of more declines… Wall Street, already under selling pressure from abroad, opened to renewed fears of a double-dip recession when investment bank Morgan Stanley’s economic team revised its forecast, concluding that the U.S. and Eurozone are hovering ‘dangerously close to a recession’ over the next six to 12 months. That report was just one piece of a spate of bad news to hit the market.

“The National Association of Realtors  reported that sales of previously owned homes fell 3.5% in July, third drop in four months, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.67 million… Separately, the Labor Department reported that the number of people applying for first-time unemployment benefits rose back above 400,000, largest number in four weeks. And a key manufacturing indicator out Thursday — The Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s survey of regional manufacturing activity — also showed signs of weakness…

“Thursday’s selloff began in Asia, where Japan’s Nikkeii 225 stock index lost 1.3% on news that exports dropped 3.3% in July. German, French and British exchanges followed with sharp selloffs. London’s FTSE plunged 4.5% on [a] report that Britain’s retail sales were up just 0.2% in July.”

Fox Business News added on August 18:

“Wall Street plummeted deep into the red… as traders grappled with global economic fears and an escalating euro zone sovereign debt crisis…”

Ron Paul: Let Iran Have the Bomb!

Newsmax reported on August 11:

“Iran should be allowed to have a nuclear bomb, Republican candidate Ron Paul suggested during Thursday’s presidential debate… His comments brought scorn from rival candidates. Michele Bachmann said she would do everything in her power to prevent Iran becoming nuclear…

“Paul said it is natural for Iran to want a bomb as it is surrounded by countries such as India, Pakistan and Israel which all have one and with China, the United States and Russia all involved in the region. He said the U.S. should not get involved in the country’s internal affairs… He accused the other candidates of warmongering…”

This is the kind of terrible shortsightedness of popular politicians, which will contribute to the prophesied utter downfall of our country. Note also the next article in this context.

Iran Determined to Destroy Israel

WorldNetDaily reported on August 15:

“Iran is warning Israel that its citizens should flee the Middle East or face annihilation. The chief commander of Iran’s Basiji forces, Brig. Gen. Mohammad-Reza Naghdi, recently stated that Iran has no option but to destroy Israel. Ratcheting up the war of words, Naghdi is now threatening Israelis in the ‘occupied lands’ that they are surrounded by mujahedeen of Islam bent on their destruction.

“‘I quote our supreme leader, Imam Khamenei, who clearly stated during the recent gathering of the leadership’s elite that Zionists are now encircled by those who are willing to wage jihad for Islam, and that those concerned for their safety and well-being should quickly go back to the countries they left behind,’ Naghdi told the Fars News agency, the media outlet for the Revolutionary Guards….

“Ayatollah Khamenei met with high Iranian officials last week during which he analyzed the events of the region and the world, emphasizing that the time for the glorification of Islam is at hand. Many religious authorities in Iran credit the supreme leader for predicting the unrest in Europe, specifically the riots in England. They believe that Khamenei is the representative of Allah on earth and the deputy of the last Islamic messiah, Imam Mahdi, and that Iran’s supreme leader is in direct contact with him, preparing the grounds for his reappearance.

“Shia Muslims believe that Imam Mahdi, who was born in 869, is still alive but has been ‘awaiting the time that God has decreed for his return.’ It is this return that will usher in the day of judgment, and the mullahs ruling Iran believe it will mark the destruction of Israel… Last week, the Iranian state-controlled TV for the first time publicly announced that Khamenei is really the mythical figure Seyed Khorasani who, a centuries-old hadith (saying) states, will create the circumstance for the end of the world and the reappearance of the last Islamic messiah, the Shiites’ 12th Imam Mahdi, who will conquer the world under the banner of Islam.

“A recent video… reveals the radicals ruling Iran warn the end of the world is at hand and they need to destroy Israel to fulfill the prophecy called for by the prophet Mohammad and his descendants to trigger the coming of Imam Mahdi. The Western world, meanwhile, continues to experience growing alarm as Iran apparently continues it push for nuclear weapons. Some analysts estimate that the radicals ruling the Iranian people could have enough highly enriched uranium for its first nuclear weapon within months…”

Terror Attacks in Israel

Israel National News reported on August 18:

“… the State of Israel has moved to its highest security alert nationwide as hospitals report that five are dead following terror attacks that struck the country’s southern region midday Thursday… Two Egged buses and an IDF vehicle were targeted by unidentified terrorist cells in what appears to be a coordinated operation. Several soldiers were also wounded when explosives went off at the security fence with Gaza.”

Arab Spring No Good News for USA

Newsmax reported on August 12:

“A midsummer poll in six Arab nations (Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) by the Arab-American Institute found the ‘Arab Spring’ is not good news for the United States. The following are some of the Zogby poll results:

“The United States’ and President Obama’s favorable ratings are at an all-time low. Obama is less popular in the Middle East than Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Capturing and killing Osama bin Laden has not improved U.S. relations with the region. Far from seeing the United States as a leader of the post-Arab Spring movement, the countries surveyed viewed ‘U.S. interference in the Arab world’ as the greatest obstacle to peace and stability in the Middle East.

“Top concern is the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict; Israel’s continued occupation of Palestine is blamed on the United States. In five of the six countries surveyed, the United States was viewed less favorably than Turkey, China, France, and Iran. Iran’s policies are viewed more favorably than America’s.”

It does not look good for the influence of America in the Middle East. Some other power will have to step in to fill the void. That power will be none other than the final configuration of the United States of Europe—and Britain won’t be part of it. For more information, please read our free booklets, “Germany in Prophecy” and “Europe in Prophecy.” 

The Tragedy of Iraq

The Associated Press reported on August 15:

“Bomb blasts ripped through more than a dozen Iraqi cities Monday, killing 60 security forces and civilians in the worst attack this year, one that highlighted al-Qaida’s resolve and ability to wreak havoc. The bloodbath comes less than two weeks after Iraqi officials said they would be open to a small number of U.S. forces staying in the country past a Dec. 31 withdrawal deadline.

“The blasts were coordinated to go off Monday morning and included parked car bombs, roadside bombs, a suicide bomber driving a vehicle that rammed into a police station and even bombs attached to lightpoles.

“The scope of the violence — seven explosions went off in different towns in Diyala province alone — emphasized that insurgents are still able to carry out attacks despite repeated crackdowns by Iraqi and U.S. forces. Iraqis were furious at security officials and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki… the persistence of violence in Iraq… underscores… Iraq’s precarious situation.”

Our attempts to liberate Iraq and bring them peace and freedom have been utter failures.

The Tragedy of Libya

Deutsche Welle reported on August 15:

“Waves of refugees have continued to flee Libya for European shores, as Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi pledged to up the ante in his battle to stave off advancing rebel fighters. Some 1,600 North African migrants arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa this weekend, with the majority of them coming from war-torn Libya…

“The island of Lampedusa lies in the Mediterranean Sea between the Tunisian coast and Sicily. Since the beginning of this year some 11,000 North Africans have landed on the island, fleeing uprisings and conflicts in their home countries. The Catholic aid group Sant’Egidio said 1,820 North Africans have drowned his year in the Mediterranean Sea attempting to reach Europe.”

Die Zeit asked on August 15 what would happen if the Libyan rebels would win. The answer is sobering: Libya would end up in chaos, especially if the Libyan rebels would begin to take revenge on governmental officials and supporters, as is already presently the case in numerous instances. According to the law on paper, NATO could not do anything to prevent this from happening, and they would not even want to. Die Zeit concluded: “War is dirty business. There are no morally justifiable wars. But then, one has to admit that humanitarian bombs are also an inconsistency.”

The Tragedy of Syria

Deutsche Welle reported on August 15:

“Activists in Syria say Monday’s assault on Sunni neighborhoods of Latakia killed one person. At least 23 others were killed in the city over the weekend. Warships and tanks joined the shelling in a crackdown against protesters opposed to President Bashar al-Assad. As the country’s anti-regime protests enter their fifth month, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said snipers were wreaking havoc in Latakia and the provincial town of Hula…

“In Latakia, people are trying to flee but cannot leave the city because it is surrounded by Syrian troops… Latakia is a hotbed of dissent against the Assad regime, with around 20,000 people rallying every day to demand that the president step down.

“Elsewhere, Syrian security forces surged into two Damascus suburbs overnight, cutting off communications, firing shots and making arrests. In a telephone conversation, Obama and King Abdullah [of Saudi Arabia] expressed their ‘shared, deep concerns about the Syrian government’s use of violence against its citizens,’ the White House said in a statement…

“A spokesman for the British prime minister’s office said Cameron and Obama, in a separate telephone conversation, ‘expressed horror at the brutal reaction of the Syrian regime to legitimate protests, particularly during Ramadan,’ the holy month in which Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.

“European diplomats estimated in a UN Security Council meeting last week that 2,000 people had been killed – mostly civilians – and a further 3,000 had disappeared since an uprising against Assad’s rule began in March. Thousands have also fled across the border to neighboring Turkey.”

Haaretz wrote on August 15:

“Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Syrian President Bashar Assad on Monday that military operations against civilians must end immediately and unconditionally, warning him that these were Ankara’s ‘final words’… ‘If these operations do not stop there will be nothing left to say about the steps that would be taken,’ he said, without elaborating…

“Davutoglu’s statement comes just days after the Turkish ‘Hurriyet’ newspaper reported that Turkey may consider cooperating with international powers in the event they decide to intervene militarily in Syria. According to the report, the Turkish foreign minister made it clear to Assad that in the event that Syrian forces continue to act aggressively against demonstrators Syria will no longer be able to rely on friendship from Turkey.”

Die Zeit reported on August 15 that Turkey may be providing Syrian rebels with weapons in an effort to diminish the impact of the Iranian-Syrian alliance. BBC reported on August 18: “The US, the EU, UK,  France and Germany have demanded that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down to allow a democratic transition.”

Universal Moral Decay in Great Britain

The Telegraph wrote on August 15:

“David Cameron, Ed Miliband and the entire British political class came together yesterday to denounce the rioters. They were of course right to say that the actions of these looters, arsonists and muggers were abhorrent and criminal, and that the police should be given more support. But there was also something very phony and hypocritical about all the shock and outrage expressed in parliament. MPs spoke about the week’s dreadful events as if they [had] nothing to do with them.

“… the criminality in our streets cannot be dissociated from the moral disintegration in the highest ranks of modern British society. The last two decades have seen a terrifying decline in standards among the British governing elite. It has become acceptable for our politicians to lie and to cheat. An almost universal culture of selfishness and greed has grown up…

“Our politicians… have shown themselves prepared to ignore common decency and, in some cases, to break the law. David Cameron is happy to have some of the worst offenders in his Cabinet… The Prime Minister showed no sign that he understood that something stank about yesterday’s Commons debate. He spoke of morality, but only as something which applies to the very poor: ‘We will restore a stronger sense of morality and responsibility – in every town, in every street and in every estate.’ He appeared not to grasp that this should apply to the rich and powerful as well…

“Something has gone horribly wrong in Britain. If we are ever to confront the problems which have been exposed in the past week, it is essential to bear in mind that they do not only exist in inner-city housing estates. The culture of greed and impunity we are witnessing on our TV screens stretches right up into corporate boardrooms and the Cabinet. It embraces the police and large parts of our media. It is not just its damaged youth, but Britain itself that needs a moral reformation.”

How accurately God describes the moral decay in our Western societies–mostly Great Britain and the USA, but also countries like The Netherlands, as the next article shows–when He says:

“Alas, sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the LORD, That have provoked to anger The Holy One of Israel, they have turned away backward. Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, And the whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot even to the head, There is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; they have not been closed or bound up Or soothed with ointment” (Isaiah 1:4-6).

The Abuse of Power

Harvard Business Review wrote on August 12:

“26.3% of 1,250 Dutch business professionals with marital partners reported having engaged in infidelity, according to a survey led by Joris Lammers of Tilburg University in the Netherlands. An analysis showed that people with greater power within their organizations are more likely to be unfaithful, mainly because of the increased confidence that power confers. The power-infidelity association applies to women as well as men, the researchers found.”

The rich and powerful should be setting a good example, but sadly, mostly the opposite is the case.

“The Euro Is Stable”

On August 15, Der Spiegel Online published the following revealing interview with Germany’s Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble:

“… while we in Europe have a common currency and thus collective monetary policies, we still have national financial policies… we’re now going to make the Stability Pact significantly stricter. Still, it’s going to be a step-by-step process to make EU institutions as strong as we might wish them to be right away, here and now…

“We have a stable currency, and no one has to worry about their savings …There were also some skeptics when the euro was introduced. But it’s working! And it’s stable! We shouldn’t forget that we’re living in an unusually stable economic situation. We are in a position to overcome this crisis…

“When we created the euro, it wasn’t possible to create a political union along with it. People weren’t ready for that. But since then, they’ve grown more willing to go in that direction. It’s a process, one that is sometimes laborious and sometimes slow… If we chose not to continue pursuing the European project, our prospects would look much, much worse… let me say it once again, very clearly: The euro is not going to fail.”

These comments should rule out the preposterous idea that Germany, of all countries, would give up the euro and return to the deutschmark. Also, the concept is equally uninformed and unsound that European core nations—including Germany—would forsake the euro and create their own common currency. The economically and financially intertwined European conditions clearly prohibit the realization of such a fanciful idea—apart from the fact that the Bible indicates that ten European nations or groups of nations will arise out of the current EU, not separate and apart from it. It is the euro that is the glue that holds Europe together, and that will help to bring about the political unification of European core nations. Notice also the following articles on that subject.

Plan for European Economic Government

Der Spiegel Online reported on August 16:

“Following a summit meeting in Paris, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy have announced proposals to introduce a ‘true European economic government’ as part of a long-term plan to battle the debt crisis… The two leaders also pledged to integrate financial and economic policies to a greater extent in the face of Europe’s debt crisis… Merkel said the goal is to ‘strengthen the euro as our common currency. In order for it to succeed, we need a strong integration of finance and economic policies in the euro zone.’ The chancellor added, ‘The euro is our future, it is the foundation of our prosperity. And it contributes to our peaceful coexistence.’ For the first time in the crisis, Merkel also described the euro rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF), as a ‘European Monetary Fund,’ a proposal long championed by Sarkozy…

“There would also be attempts to improve cross-border economic governance in what Sarkozy described as a ‘true European economic government,’ to be led by Herman Van Rompuy, current president of the European Council, for a two-and-a-half-year term. Leaders of the euro-zone states would meet twice a year and perhaps more often to discuss harmonization of finance and economic policy. ‘We want to express our absolute will to defend the euro and assume Germany and France’s particular responsibilities in Europe and to have on all of these subjects a complete unity of views,’ Sarkozy told the news conference at his Elysee Palace offices, where he was flanked by Merkel…”

It was also reported by Reuters on August 16 that “Jean-Pierre Pollin, a member of France’s Circle of Economists think tank, told the daily Le Parisien it was now unavoidable that euro zone states give up some sovereignty. ‘The monetary union inevitably implies a political union,’ he said.”

“Welcome to the Fourth Reich!”

On May 17, Mail On Line published a  controversial article about Germany and the German government. As predictable, German tabloids like Bild Online are furious and label the article as scandalous and defamatory. Here are excerpts from the article, titled, “Rise of the Fourth Reich, how Germany is using the financial crisis to conquer Europe”:

“Although [Angela Markel] will not yet admit it, this [the announced plan for a European economic government] all suggests the first step has been taken towards a fiscal union that will leave Germany dictating the financial terms for the rest of Europe… It is the one country that is able to do so… if such a plan succeeded it would make Europe effectively a German empire, with non-Eurozone countries such as Britain on the sidelines… For be in no doubt what fiscal union means: it is one economic policy, one taxation system, one social security system, one debt, one economy, one finance minister. And all of the above would be German….

“If Germany is to continue to prosper, Europe must prosper: but a ruthless solution may have to be imposed in order for that to happen. If the European project is to continue, Germany will not merely have to underwrite it, but control it.

“The recently-agreed European Financial Stability Facility is not the answer… The alternative is the massive surrender of sovereignty to Germany by the rest of the Eurozone that would allow the economic policy of Greece, Ireland and Portugal to be made in Berlin… That would reassure the markets, but it would also remove any pretence of democracy in those 16 countries: for once you have lost control of your economy, you have lost your sovereignty.

“Every spending department in every government in the Eurozone would have its policy made in the old capital of Prussia. And if the people did not like their governments being left with fewer powers than a county council, that would be tough. The alternative is ruin. Where Hitler failed by military means to conquer Europe, modern Germans are succeeding through trade and financial discipline. Welcome to the Fourth Reich.”

The Bible shows that a United States of ten core European nations—or groups of nations—will arise in these last days, and that Germany WILL be leading them. In fact, all of them will surrender their authority and power to a charismatic political and military leader of German or Austrian descent – the “beast” in the book of Revelation—and he won’t be ruling democratically. So, the article of the Daily Mail—even though they most certainly did not think of biblical prophecy—seems to be right on target.

More Oil Spills…

The Wall Street Journal reported on August 16:

“Facing scrutiny from regulators over a large oil spill in the North Sea that continued for a sixth day, Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) Tuesday acknowledged that some oil is still leaking from a pipeline that it had repaired last week… The U.K.’s largest oil spill in a decade could revive questions about the offshore drilling industry barely a year after a catastrophic U.S. Gulf of Mexico accident. The spill comes weeks after the release of a United Nations report detailing decades of oil pollution in Nigeria, where Shell has operated since the 1950s. The company is also in the process of applying for U.S. federal permits to explore for oil offshore Alaska…”

In a harshly worded article, Der Spiegel Online accused Shell of secrecy and asked whether Shell’s recent statements, as quoted above, should be believed, or whether the damage is much greater than admitted. Der Spiegel Online wrote on August 17:

“Oil has been flowing into the North Sea from a leak at a platform off the coast of Scotland for a week, but Shell has failed to be open with the public. Details of the leak are scarce, and information on the amount of oil which has escaped so far remains uncertain. Oil giant Shell is struggling to contain the worst North Sea spill in a decade amid criticism over how honest the company is being with the public. The spill, which has continued through a second leak after the company had initially said the incident was ‘under control,’ was reportedly discovered last Wednesday but was only made public over the weekend…

“The leak is on the Gannet Alpha rig about 112 miles (180 kilometers) east of the Scottish city of Aberdeen. Shell has admitted some problems — albeit in an ambiguous way… ‘Exactly how much oil is now flowing into the North Sea, we don’t know,’ said Greenpeace’s Feddern. And the experience of the Gulf of Mexico disaster suggests that the public should be wary of preliminary numbers provided by oil companies: BP’s initial figure for the amount of oil which poured into the Gulf in April 2010 was 60 times too low…

“Shell has admitted that the spill is ‘significant … in the context of annual amounts of oil spilled in the North Sea.’ The British government… has in the meantime described the spill as ‘substantial.’ It has also been labelled as the biggest incident of its kind in more than a decade… When the leak will be fully blocked up is unknown.”

Our Poor Children…

In an article, dated August 16, stumbleupon.com wrote the following:

“Today, NPR reported that kids living with unmarried, cohabitating parents are worse off than children of married parents. According to a new study, kids of unmarried parents are more likely to have trouble in school and experience psychological stress, physical abuse and poverty. The National Marriage Project and the Institute for American Values also found that while divorce rates have dropped since the late 1970s, the number of cohabitating families has soared, especially among lower socioeconomic classes. More than 40 percent of babies are now born to unwed mothers, and a quarter of mothers with multiple children got pregnant by more than one man.”

We will leave it with these terrible statistics and do not dare to quote the rest of this article, as it includes some sophisticated, but utterly misleading “twists” in logic and thinking, concluding, “The lesson here is one many of us have known for a while: married or not, kids are better off when their parents have a solid relationship and the means to take care of them.” Indeed, we are becoming more and more a nation without values and morals.

“A World Crying Out for Strong Leadership”

The Daily Mail wrote on August 8:

“Over the past month, even an economic illiterate with half a brain could have seen this economic meltdown coming… A woeful lack of leadership across the Western world is making a perilous situation worse. Markets hate uncertainty and they sense no one is in control.

“German Chancellor Merkel and French President Sarkozy are in denial about the true scale of the debt problem. The International Monetary Fund, which is supposed to enforce austerity measures on recalcitrant nations, is paralysed. First its boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned over lurid rape allegations, now his successor Christine Lagarde (who is not a trained economist) is embroiled in a corruption inquiry.

“Italy’s clownish premier Silvio Berlusconi has allowed his nation’s debt to reach 120 per cent of GDP… and Spain is blighted by impotence pending an election next month.

“President Obama, having thrown a trillion dollars into a failed bid to stimulate growth, has largely retreated to the White House and seems interested only in being re-elected. And here [in Great Britain], our political masters… ignored the crisis for weeks before the Commons broke for summer…

“The situation cries out for leadership – for someone with foresight and willpower to take the initiative…”

Sadly, the Daily Mail and other papers don’t realize what they are asking for, because a strong leader will arise very soon in Europe… but with terrible consequences for the entire world… But as the next article shows, leaders such as President Obama are no longer respected. His attempt to calm investors back-fired badly, showing a total lack of confidence in his leadership.

President Obama Speaks, and the U.S. Markets Dive…

The Washington Post reported on August 8:

“President Obama sought to reassure jittery investors… [He] spoke after markets worldwide plunged Monday, as intensifying fears about the global economy drove panicked selling in the United States, Europe and Asia. The markets continued to dive after Obama’s address, a sell-off that amounted to Wall Street’s worst day since the throes of the 2008 financial crisis…

“Immediately following Obama’s remarks, U.S. markets continued to lose ground. As he began speaking, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 426 points… At day’s end, the Dow had plunged 635 points…”

Lowering USA’s Top Credit Rating… What Does It All Mean?

The Associated Press wrote on August 7:

“Standard & Poor’s has taken the unprecedented step of lowering the top credit rating that the U.S. has held for nearly a century… The ratings agency downgraded its rating on the federal government’s long-term debt one level from the top AAA grade to AA+.

“Long-term debt includes notes and bonds that come due in more than one year. They have terms ranging from two to 30 years. Short-term debt includes Treasury bills that have terms ranging from a few days to 52 weeks. The rating on the government’s short-term debt was not downgraded. Of the $9.4 billion in publicly traded U.S. government debt, 72% is long-term…

“[The] downgrade is a warning to buyers of bonds and other debt that the chance that they won’t get their money back has increased, however slightly…The 10-year Treasury note is considered the basis for all other interest rates, so higher rates on that and other long-term U.S. debt could lead to borrowing costs on everything from mortgages to car loans. That would also make it more expensive for state and local governments, companies and consumers to borrow money…

“The spending cuts Democrats and Republicans agreed on were relatively modest. More difficult, comprehensive cuts were pushed to the future. S&P also notes that the possibility of new revenue, for instance from tax increases, appears more remote than before. The rancor around the agreement also made it more clear how far apart Democrats and Republicans are… The two other major agencies [Moody’s Investor Service and Fitch Ratings] haven’t taken action yet…

“The S&P has given the U.S. a AAA rating since 1941. The U.S… has only faced the threat of a downgrade once. In 1995, when Bill Clinton was president, a similar default loomed and the credit rating agencies warned of a downgrade. At the time, the country had $4.9 trillion in debt — nearly $10 trillion less than now. Once Congress resolved that debt crisis a year later, the credit agencies removed their warning…

“Britain, Germany, Australia, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Finland are among those that have the top rating… Analysts say it could be tough for the U.S. to regain the AAA rating soon especially given its current economic challenges. S&P officials implied that it will take years to see a meaningful change in the U.S. fiscal situation and in the government’s ability to cut the budget.”

For a full and unbiased analysis of America’s horrible economic situation, and why we ever got there, please view our StandingWatch program, “USA—A Nation Without Understanding.”

Further Downgrades Coming…?

Newsmax and Reuters reported on August 7:

“Standard & Poor’s Managing Director John Chambers said Sunday there is a 1-in-3 chance of a further U.S. credit rating downgrade over the next six months to two years… Meanwhile, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said he expects the stock market slide to continue… [He] said the downgrade ‘hit a nerve’ and is damaging to the psyche of the country…”

Greenspan also said that there is no possibility that the USA will ever go bankrupt and unable to pay their bills, as they can always print more money. What he failed to mention is that the more money is being printed, the less its value will become. Many in Germany, for example, remember the time of inflation after World War I, when Germans could not even buy a loaf of bread for 1 million Reichsmarks.

China Pleads for New Global Reserve Currency

Newsmax and Reuters reported on August 6:

“China said Washington only had itself to blame… [It] roundly condemned the United States for its ‘debt addiction’ and ‘short sighted’ political wrangling and said the world needed a new stable global reserve currency. ‘China, the largest creditor of the world’s sole superpower, has every right now to demand the United States address its structural debt problems and ensure the safety of China’s dollar assets,’ the Xinhua commentary said.

“It urged the United States to cut military and social welfare expenditure. It also said further credit downgrades would very likely undermine the world economic recovery and trigger new rounds of financial turmoil… British business minister Vince Cable backed China’s call for a new stable global reserve currency but said that for the moment the U.S. dollar remained key.”

But the U.S. Dollar won’t remain key for long. Surprising as it may sound, especially in light of the current Eurozone crisis, the Bible shows that the euro will become the world’s strongest currency.

China Not Immune

Deutsche Welle reported on August 8:

“China, Russia and India, three countries plagued by widespread poverty and famine in the 20th century, are now among the 12 largest economic powers… But even these emerging nations are susceptible to the turbulence in the international financial markets… The greatest danger for emerging markets lies where domestic markets are dominated by foreign investments… inflation is on the rise and an overhyped market threatens.

“‘I can only warn of Chinese stock,’ said Vincent Strauss, manager of the Magellan Fund.  He told Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday edition that he did not believe China would manage to get a grip on inflation. ‘The country is overinvested,’ he said… ‘China is an accident waiting to happen,’ Strauss said…

“Europe and the US are flooding the markets with capital that pushes inflation in the emerging markets. As a result, these nations are forced to raise interest rates, a move that puts the brakes on growth… A look at the stock indexes in select emerging nations shows how growth has declined as a result of its dependency on crisis-ridden global markets: in China, key stock has dropped 6.5 percent in value since the beginning of the year while Poland, Taiwan and Turkey recorded double-digit losses. With a loss of 15.6 percent, India ranks second behind Brazil with a minus of 23.6 percent.”

Is This the End of America?

On August 7, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote:

“Those who believe in the decline of the United States of America now have another date to refer to: Aug. 5, 2011 — the day when America’s credit rating was downgraded. The US now has to deal with a blow that, in addition to its direct financial consequences, is of historical significance… On top of that, its political system is unable to cope with today’s challenges. Is this the beginning of the end of the US as a superpower?

“It is to be hoped that the downgrade leads to an end of the political blockade and causes the budgetary and financial policy objectives and priorities of the president and Congress to converge. For that to happen, however, the US will need a president who can really lead and not just give nice speeches. … The decisions that the president, Congress and voters make will also determine how long the US can continue to hold the pole position in world politics. The US will surely not give up its claim to the leadership role, but it will no longer have the resources, or the will to deploy those resources, which it needs in order to enforce its leadership everywhere.”

America’s leadership is ending. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America.”

Fiscal Armageddon

Moneynews.com reported on August 9:

“The United States is quickly approaching a fiscal Armageddon and the players in Washington — specifically Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke — don’t understand what is happening or know what [to] do about it, world renowned investor and author Jim Rogers tells Newsmax.TV. The chairman of Rogers Holdings and Beeland Interests, Inc. predicted more problems in the financial markets in the next few years and said any halt in the decline of stocks was just a ‘temporary bottom.’ He said that while America was not at the brink of a fiscal Armageddon right now, the nation is likely to default on its obligations in the future…

“‘It is astonishing America is the largest debtor nation in the history of the world…’ Rogers said… [He also mentioned] that despite what economists say, the country has not left the recession and a depression could happen… Rogers does not see the United States getting its triple-A bond rating back in his lifetime and thought a default of some type was inevitable.”

More Bad News for the USA—Deadly Loss for American Troops in Afghanistan

USA Today wrote on August 6:

“Insurgents shot down a U.S. military helicopter during fighting in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 30 Americans, most of them belonging to the same elite unit as the Navy SEALs who killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden… It was the deadliest single loss for American forces in the decade-old war against the Taliban. The downing, in which seven Afghan commandos were also killed, was a stinging blow to the lauded, tight-knit SEAL Team 6 months after its crowning achievement. It was also a heavy setback for the U.S.-led coalition as it begins to draw down thousands of combat troops fighting what has become an increasingly costly and unpopular war.

“None of the 22 SEAL personnel killed in the crash were part of the team that killed bin Laden in a May raid in Pakistan, but they belonged to the same unit…The strike is also likely to boost the morale of the Taliban in a key province that controls a strategic approach to the capital Kabul… The deaths bring to 365 the number of coalition troops killed this year in Afghanistan and 42 this month.”

Reuters added on August 11:

“A roadside bomb killed five American troops in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, the U.S. military said, less than a week after American forces suffered their worst single loss of the Afghan war when Taliban insurgents shot down a helicopter… At least 50 foreign troops have been killed so far in August.

“Violence is at its worst in Afghanistan since U.S.-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taliban government in late 2001, with record civilian casualties and high levels of foreign troop deaths during the first half of 2011.”

No matter what America is doing these days, all seems to go wrong. We should be able to see clearly that God has withdrawn His blessings from our nation. The reasons should be plain, when considering what the Bible says about righteous and unrighteous lifestyles.

Iran Plans Cyber Attack Against USA

WorldNetDaily wrote on August 7:

“Iran is planning to retaliate against the United States for the sabotage against its nuclear program, according to an editorial in the Kayhan newspaper, the mouthpiece of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei… Specifically, Iran is looking into launching a cyber attack against U.S. electrical grid systems.

“Iranian officials are furious over the July 23 assassination of nuclear scientist Dariush Rezai-Nejad, who was working on electric detonators for the Iranian nuclear program, which can be used on missiles or nuclear bombs. He was the third Iranian nuclear scientist assassinated since 2009… The frustration over acts of sabotage started with the computer virus Stuxnet in which 1,000 of Iran’s centrifuges at the Natanzs nuclear facility were destroyed and had to be replaced. The virus also attacked the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which has resulted in repeated delays in it joining the country’s power grid…

“The editorial accuses the Americans, with the help of Israelis and Germans, of creating the Stuxnet virus to attack the Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities… Earlier this year Iranian officials announced that Iran’s cyber war campaign would be activated under the Passive Defense Organization of Iran, which openly recruited hackers who would support the goals and ideals of the radicals ruling Iran…

“According to reports from the U.S. Department of Energy, America’s power grid remains vulnerable to cyber attack, a result of slow implementation of computer security standards. A successful cyber attack on the North American power grid systems could disrupt the economy and possibly create a national trauma.”

How the Allies Betrayed Germany…

On August 8, 2011, Der Spiegel Online re-published an article from August 23, 1961, describing how the Western allies failed to prevent the building of the Berlin Wall. We are bringing you the following excerpts:

“East Germany began building the Berlin Wall on Aug. 13, 1961. A scathing article published by SPIEGEL 10 days later captures the outrage of West Berliners’ over the Allies’ failure to intervene. As the 50th anniversary of the barrier’s construction approaches, we revisit our archive… Originally published on Aug. 23, 1961, this article from the DER SPIEGEL archive was originally entitled, ‘City Commanders: They Didn’t Hear a Thing’…

“Both the border crisis and the crisis of trust began almost simultaneously — in the early morning hours of Aug. 13, Berlin’s Black Sunday, when Soviet Army tanks rolled towards the sector borders and the Western powers were hardly able to conceal their lack of concern for the latest Berlin crisis. The American, English and French militaries took little notice of Ulbricht’s gathering troops… Certainly the Allied passivity can’t be explained by the claim that they were surprised by Ulbricht’s swift attack. Indeed, the opposite is true. Already 48 hours ahead of the Soviet march on the sector border, all American forces in Berlin had been ordered to maintain a heightened state of alert… In fact, the American military mission at the Soviet supreme command in Potsdam was able to tell the American headquarters in Heidelberg of the troop movements already on Aug. 7…

“The disappointment of the embittered Berliners over the tepid reaction of their Western protectors grew so great that last Wednesday — 88 hours after the transformation of the Soviet zone into a concentration camp — special security measures were implemented to control the protest rally arranged by West Berliner Senator for the Interior Joachim Lipschitz at the Schöneberg district town hall. Some 12,000 West Berlin police were ordered to use water cannons and rubber truncheons to stop demonstrations that cropped up at Potsdamer Platz, the Brandenburg Gate and even at the American headquarters in the district of Zehlendorf.

“Once again, popular speaker [and subsequent German chancellor] Willy Brandt was unable to conceal his disappointment in the Allies’ complacency in front of the masses. ‘Today I openly expressed our thoughts in a letter to the President of the United States, John Kennedy,’ the mayor said. But this letter contains such harsh criticism that neither the West Berlin Senate, nor Washington deemed its publication opportune…

“Meanwhile, Ulbricht’s functionaries in East Berlin are showing the first symptoms of unbridled arrogance. ‘Have you heard that Brandt called for help from the Allies?’ East Berlin’s star propagandist and television host Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler recently asked his viewers. Answering his own question, he said: ‘Yes, I heard, but the Allies didn’t.’”

This is truly a shameful report on the Allies’ unwillingness to prevent the erection of the Berlin Wall. Now the Berlin Wall is no longer in existence (but it did not come down because of American or British action; in fact, originally, all of the American, British and Russian leaders tried to prevent the unification of Germany), but the memory of many Germans remains in what they would describe as the betrayal of their Western Allies, especially America and Britain.

Germany Proposes Unelected ‘Stability Council’ for EU

The EUObserver wrote on August 10:

“Germany has proposed the creation of a new EU ‘overseer’ that would crack the whip and impose sanctions on countries that do not adhere to rigid budget discipline and pro-business labour policies. The country’s economy minister, Philipp Roesler, on Tuesday (10 August) told reporters that the bloc should create a new EU institution, a ‘stability council’, of unelected supervisors that would ensure member states that stick to budget temperance and limit debt and keep in check debt growth.

“This council should be given the power to slap sanctions on countries to ensure they cut their deficits and monitor use of financial assistance… The stability council would be independent of voters so as to avoid “political pressure” and could impose sanctions automatically. Roesler said that Germany would be bringing the proposal to the next meeting of EU finance ministers.”

This proposal, if adopted, comes closer and closer to what the Bible says will ultimately happen in Europe—a non-elected “official” will be given unrestrained power and authority by ten core European nations or groups of nations.

Riots in Great Britain

The Associated Press reported on August 7:

“New unrest erupted on north London’s streets late Sunday, a day after rioting and looting in a deprived area amid community anger over a fatal police shooting [of Mark Duggan, a black man]… The violence has cast a pall over a city preparing to host the 2012 Olympic Games.

“‘I hope people will have a fantastic Olympics no matter what happened last night,’ London Mayor Boris Johnson said in a telephone interview with BBC television, trying to assure the world his city was safe. Others weren’t so sure, suggesting that the riots had exposed incipient tensions at a time of sharp public sector cutbacks and economic uncertainty.

“‘This is just a glimpse into the abyss,’ former Metropolitan Police Commander John O’Connor told Sky News. ‘Someone’s pulled the clock back and you can look and see what’s beneath the surface. And what with the Olympic Games coming up, this doesn’t bode very well for London’…

“Tottenham has a history of unrest. It was the site of the 1985 Broadwater Farm riots, a series of clashes that led to the savaging stabbing of a police officer and the wounding of nearly 60 others – brutally underscoring tensions between London’s police and the capital’s black community…”

“Riots Reveal the Decay of British Society”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on August 10:

“After the fourth night of riots in England, observers are asking what is behind the wave of violence. German commentators argue that the unrest reflects a deep-seated malaise at the heart of British society. Britain is searching for answers after four consecutive nights of riots that have shocked the country and led to hundreds of arrests.

“Prime Minister David Cameron, who cut short his vacation in Italy in reaction to this week’s violence, was due to chair a meeting of Cobra, the British government’s emergency council, on Wednesday to discuss how to proceed. He has recalled the British parliament, which will meet on Thursday to discuss the rioting, the worst violence of its kind in Britain since race riots in the 1980s.

“London was relatively quiet on Tuesday night, following the deployment of around 16,000 police in trouble spots around the city. Many businesses closed early on Tuesday amid fears of unrest. Violence spread to an increasing number of towns and cities around England, however, including Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool, where groups of young men in hooded tops looted shops and set fire to cars and buildings. In one of the most serious incidents, a police station in Nottingham was firebombed. Violence was also reported in Wolverhampton, Leicester, Bristol and Gloucester…

“The authorities have been shocked by the scale of the rioting. ‘This has been senseless on a scale I have never witnessed before in my career,’ commented Garry Shewan, assistant chief constable of Greater Manchester police…

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘… In no other country in Europe is inequality as cemented in society as in the United Kingdom… The riots are in no way a purely British problem. There is social distress all across Europe…’

“The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘… Yes, miserable social conditions can be miserable, but they are no justification for lawlessness. The police must not give the streets over to the rioters. The politicians, who are responsible for the police, should at least consider whether the “softly-softly” approach of the British police is appropriate — or an invitation to brutal street criminality’…

“The financial daily Handelsblatt writes: ‘The riots reveal fundamental societal problems that extend far beyond London and England… The riots reveal the decay of society at its edges, brought on by deeply cemented inequality, the erosion of social norms, great frustration and a lack of opportunity for the lower class… The riots show that some people simply take pleasure in violence, which they engage in without inhibitions when given the opportunity.’

“The Financial Times Deutschland writes: ‘… The British elite has systematically compromised itself in recent years. They claimed to be a role model, or at least trustworthy. In the economic crisis the financial establishment declared bankruptcy, and British politicians became mired in the expenses scandal of 2009. Then this year the media and politicians have been damaged by the Murdoch scandal. When the country’s elites don’t take the law seriously, why should we? No question is more dangerous for a society.’

“The left-leaning Berliner Zeitung writes: ‘The country has lost faith in every authority: the banks, politicians, the media, the police. The corruption has reached even the smallest unit — the family. There is a generation growing up without values of any kind…’

“The conservative Die Welt writes: ‘The unrest in London is a form of hooliganism by losers who are living in a society which no longer has anything left to offer losers. Among the arsonists are people who no longer possess any values. They’ve gotten used to drawing money from the state and they complain when the handouts stop coming as generously as they did in the past. This is a problem that, within the foreseeable future, many more Europeans are going to be confronted with, including many young people. This is because most European countries have been living far beyond their means… In part, the peace in Europe of the past 66 years has also been bought through increasingly generous welfare states. But those days are over. The strength of Europe’s democracy will now be measured based on how sustainably societies change their values to reflect that reality.’”

It’s Race!

The Telegraph wrote on August 10:

“What colour is Mark Duggan?… finally, Toby Young’s Telegraph blog post on the riots was published [explaining that Mark Duggan was black]. Is Toby Young the only  journalist out there who will dare say that these riots are about race? Still, one paper did carry a photo of Mr Duggan. When I saw the photo, it confirmed what I knew instinctively: black youths once again have set London alight.

“Some of the black kids I used to teach will tell you that the riots are absolutely justified. A number of adults would agree with them. Everywhere I read that the protest was understandable because ‘people are very angry’. I’d like to know what they’re angry about. Mark Duggan is dead. He was shot by the police in a shootout. Duggan was in a minicab and shots were fired from both the cab and the police elsewhere. A police officer was hurt in the incident and a bullet was found lodged in a police radio.

“Either Duggan was shooting at the police or the driver of the minicab was. Either Duggan was in the wrong place at the wrong time and his death is a terrible tragedy – he was caught in the crossfire – or he shot at the police and the police defended themselves. Whatever the explanation, the police did not kill this man in cold blood…

“[A policeman] explained that about 80 per cent of gun crime took place in the black community… Then he told me that 80 per cent was black on black gun crime, and that of the remaining 20 per cent about 75 per cent involved at least one black person: black shooting white, or white shooting black… on the whole the whites who were involved in these shootings tended to be from Eastern Europe.

“… the news about the Tottenham riots doesn’t mention race… Problems cannot be addressed unless people are willing to tell the truth. As with so many other things in this country, we stick our heads in the sand and refuse to speak out about it.”

Britain Lost Her Values…

The Daily Mail wrote on August 11:

“So now the chickens have well and truly come home terrifyingly to roost. The violent anarchy that has taken hold of British cities is the all-too-predictable outcome of a three-decade liberal experiment which tore up virtually every basic social value. The married two-parent family, educational meritocracy, punishment of criminals, national identity, enforcement of the drugs laws and many more fundamental conventions were all smashed by a liberal intelligentsia hell-bent on a revolutionary transformation of society…

“Clearly, there is some as yet unidentified direction and co-ordination behind the anarchy. But what is so notable and distressing is that, after the first day when adults were clearly involved, this mayhem has been carried out in the main by teenagers and children, some as young as eight. The idea that they should not steal other people’s property, or beat up and rob passers-by, appears to be as weird and outlandish to them as the suggestion that they should fly to the moon.

“These youths feel absolutely entitled to go ‘on the rob’ and steal whatever they want. Indeed, they are incredulous that anyone should suggest they might pass up such an opportunity. What has been fuelling all this is not poverty, as has so predictably been claimed, but moral collapse. What we have been experiencing is a complete breakdown of civilised behaviour among children and young people.

“… at the very heart of these problems lies the breakdown of the family. For most of these children come from lone-mother households. And the single most crucial factor behind all this mayhem is the willed removal of the most important thing that socialises children and turns them from feral savages into civilised citizens: a father who is a fully committed member of the family unit… successive generations are being brought up only by mothers, through whose houses pass transitory males by whom these women have yet more children — and who inevitably repeat the pattern of lone and dysfunctional parenting…

“And this breaking of the family was further condoned, rewarded and encouraged by the Welfare State, which conceives of need solely in terms of absence of money, and which accordingly subsidises lone parenthood and the destructive behaviour that fatherlessness brings in its train… All of this was compounded still further by the disaster of multiculturalism… That meant children were no longer taught about the nation in which they lived, and about its culture…

“In similar vein, all criminal wrongdoing was excused on the basis that the criminal couldn’t help himself, as he was the victim of circumstances such as poverty, unemployment, or as yet illusory cuts in public spending. The human rights of the criminal became seen as more important than the safety and security of his victims. Punishment became a dirty word…

“Britain was once an ordered society that was the envy of the world… Can Broken Britain be put together again?… Repairing this terrible damage also means, dare I say it, a return to the energetic transmission of Biblical morality. When church leaders… start preaching, once again, the moral concepts that underlie our civilisation, and when our political leaders decide to oppose the culture war that has been waged against that civilisation rather than supinely acquiescing in its destruction, then — and only then — will we start to get to grips with this terrible problem.

“Until then, within the smouldering embers of our smashed and burned-out cities, we can only look upon the ruins of the Britain we have so dearly loved; the Britain that once led the world towards civilisation, but is now so tragically leading the way out.”

To preach and live the true biblical values is indeed the only way to success. But there is little hope that prior to the Great Tribulation, Britain will return to the God of the Bible whom they have forsaken.

World Reacts With Shock

Mail On Line wrote on August 10:

“The world’s media reacted with shock and horror to the riots that have swept Britain, with London portrayed as ‘a lawless city’. The story made front pages around the globe, and was among the top items on TV news shows in dozens of countries.

“Germany led the way, with Der Spiegel magazine comparing London to the capital of Somalia. ‘The television images dominating screens this week could be right out of Mogadishu,’ it wrote… In newspapers, TZ in Munich asked: ‘What has gone wrong with Britain? Like the Sex Pistols said, it truly is anarchy in the UK.’

“The tabloid Bild summed up the feelings of many with the headline: ‘Chaos reigns in London!’ On its website, other stories were titled ‘England in flames’ and ‘London’s night of horror’.

“Many looked ahead to next summer, with the respected Süddeutsche Zeitung warning that ‘fears are concentrated on the Olympics’. Countries including Canada and Australia were left stunned that the kind of unrest seen in Greece and France had befallen Britain…”

God has prophesied that Great Britain will be severely punished because of unrighteous violent and immoral conduct. For an in-depth analysis of Great Britain’s society in the light of biblical prophecy, please view our recent StandingWatch program, “Britain’s Watergate Scandal…Why?”

“Global Warming Link to Drowned Polar Bears Melts…”

Human Events wrote on August 11:

“Polar bears drowning in an Alaskan sea because the ice packs are melting—it’s the iconic image of the global warming debate. But the validity of the science behind the image—presented as an ignoble testament to our environment in peril by Al Gore in his film An Inconvenient Truth—is now part of a federal investigation that has the environmental community on edge.
 
“Special agents from the Interior Department’s inspector general’s office are questioning the two government scientists about the paper they wrote on drowned polar bears, suggesting mistakes were made in the math and as to how the bears actually died, and the department is eyeing another study currently underway on bear populations.
 
“Biologist Charles Monnett, the lead scientist on the paper, was placed on administrative leave July 18.  Fellow biologist Jeffrey Gleason, who also contributed to the study, is being questioned, but has not been suspended.”

Oslo’s Mass Murderer Not a Christian

Newsmax reported on July 30:

“Bill O’Reilly was not pleased with the New York Times’ labeling of Anders Behring Brevik, the 32-year-old mass murderer who took at least 76 innocent lives as a ‘Christian Extremist.’ In his column, he notes that the ‘killer is not attached to any church, has no history of Christian activity, has openly criticized the Protestant philosophy, and has committed acts counter to all Christian teaching.’

“’Anders Brevik did not kill in the name of Jesus,’ O’Reilly argues. ‘… He is simply a murderer… anything that diminishes Christianity is fair game to be promoted. Every newsworthy sin committed by a Christian is highlighted with a sneering reference to hypocrisy…’”

For a full, fair and correct analysis of the mass murders in Oslo, please view our StandingWatch program, “What’s Behind the Norway Massacres?”

Christian Scholars Reject the Bible

NPR wrote on August 9:

“According to the Bible (Genesis 2:7), this is how humanity began: ‘The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.’ God then called the man Adam, and later created Eve from Adam’s rib. Polls by Gallup and the Pew Research Center find that four out of 10 Americans believe this account. It’s a central tenet for much of conservative Christianity, from evangelicals to confessional churches such as the Christian Reformed Church.

“But now some conservative scholars are saying publicly that they can no longer believe the Genesis account. Asked how likely it is that we all descended from Adam and Eve, Dennis Venema, a biologist at Trinity Western University, replies: ‘That would be against all the genomic evidence that we’ve assembled over the last 20 years, so not likely at all.’ Venema says there is no way we can be traced back to a single couple. He says with the mapping of the human genome, it’s clear that modern humans emerged from other primates as a large population — long before the Genesis time frame of a few thousand years ago…

“Venema is a senior fellow at BioLogos Foundation, a Christian group that tries to reconcile faith and science… And Venema is part of a growing cadre of Christian scholars who say they want their faith to come into the 21st century. Another one is John Schneider, who taught theology at Calvin College in Michigan until recently. He says it’s time to face facts: There was no historical Adam and Eve, no serpent, no apple, no fall that toppled man from a state of innocence.

“‘Evolution makes it pretty clear that in nature, and in the moral experience of human beings, there never was any such paradise to be lost,’ Schneider says. ‘So Christians, I think, have a challenge, have a job on their hands to reformulate some of their tradition about human beginnings.’

“To many evangelicals, this is heresy. ‘From my viewpoint, a historical Adam and Eve is absolutely central to the… claims of the Christian faith,’ says Fazale Rana, vice president of Reasons To Believe, an evangelical think tank that questions evolution. Rana… has a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Ohio University… Rana and others believe in a literal, historical Adam and Eve for many reasons. One is that the Genesis account makes man unique, created in the image of God — not a descendant of lower primates. Second, it tells a story of how evil came into the world, and it’s not a story in which God introduced evil through the process of evolution, but one in which Adam and Eve decided to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit.”

Of course, the Genesis account is accurate, and those who deny it while adopting the “god of Evolution” are called “fools” in the Bible. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Theory of Evolution—a Fairy Tale for Adults?”

New Law Allows Raise of Debt Ceiling

Deutsche Welle reported on August 2:

“US President Barack Obama signed into law a measure to raise the federal debt ceiling, shortly after it was approved by a wide margin in the Senate. The Senate vote came just hours before the midnight deadline given by the Treasury Department. Failure to pass the deal would have put the United States into default, sending shockwaves across the global economy. The Senate voted 74-26 to approve the legislation, which cleared the House of Representatives on Monday 269-161. Twenty-eight Senate Republicans joined 45 Democrats in voting for the deal.

“… many on the left and right were still unhappy with it. Progressives had wanted to balance spending cuts with new revenues through taxing the wealthy and corporations, while conservative Republicans had hoped for even more drastic budget cuts… Despite unhappy lawmakers in the US, international figures breathed a sigh of relief as the bill finally passed.”

As was to be expected and as we announced in our StandingWatch programs, the authority was ultimately granted, before the deadline of midnight of August 2, to raise the debt ceiling. However, this does in no way solve our financial problems.

America in Deep Trouble

The Daily Mail wrote on August 2:

“For now, the American debt crisis is over… To many of us here in Britain, the dispute seemed a bizarre exercise in brinkmanship, with posturing politicians taking the world’s largest economy to the verge of default.

“Had the Americans been forced to default, the result would probably have been a second global recession, spelling disaster for thousands of British businesses and piling agony upon agony for hard-pressed families. But the truth is that although disaster has been averted for now, the U.S. debt crisis has been a troubling sign of seismic change… the American economy is in deep trouble…

“After decades of having it all, many Americans refuse to believe that they simply must slash their debts. Faced with the choice of cutting spending or raising taxes, they prefer to pretend the dilemma will go away. The results are becoming clear. Hobbled by massive debts, the U.S. economy posted dreadful growth figures for the first half of 2011… It is no exaggeration to say that the American economy is at a crossroads… At some future moment, the American people will look around and wonder where it all went wrong. But by then, of course, it will be too late…”

Yes, indeed…

Incredible—US Borrowing Has Almost Reached NEW Debt Ceiling

The Washington Times wrote on August 3:

“U.S. debt shot up $239 billion on Tuesday — the largest one-day bump in history — as the government flexed the new borrowing room it earned in this week’s debt-limit increase deal. The debt subject to the statutory limit shot way past the old cap of $14.294 trillion to hit $14.532 trillion on Tuesday… That increase puts the government already remarkably close to the new debt limit of $14.694, which means one day’s new borrowing ate up 60 percent of the $400 billion in space Congress granted the president this week.”

We Brought It Upon Ourselves…

CNN wrote on July 28:

“Did you know that there is only one other country in the world that even has a debt ceiling?  That’s Denmark, a strange anomaly, and its debt ceiling is deliberately kept very high so that it will never need to be raised. Why does no one else have a debt ceiling? Because when a legislature votes to authorize spending at a certain level but authorizes tax revenues at a lower level, it is assumed that the government will have to borrow the difference. The vote to have higher expenditures than tax revenues is – in effect – a vote to borrow money to cover the difference. And in the United States, Congress – including Republicans – voted for a budget in which expenditures exceeded tax revenues… To come at it now after the budget has been passed is like getting your Visa bill and calling up the company to say, ‘Actually we don’t want to buy all that stuff we bought.’ That’s not how it works. First you pay the bill, then you can change your spending habits.

“So why do we have a debt ceiling? Ironically, it was put in place during World War I so that Congress didn’t have to authorize every new issue of debt. It was assumed that it would be a formality to raise it. Since 1960, the debt ceiling has been raised 78 times. My basic point is that this is a crisis that we have manufactured out of whole cloth. We have created a circumstance in which the world doubts our credibility, rating agencies are thinking of downgrading our debt and the dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency could be jeopardized. Please understand that none of these things are happening because the United States is running deficits. There was no indication – by any metric– that the United States was having difficulty borrowing money one month ago. In fact, the world has been lending money to the United States more cheaply than ever before. We face downgrades and investor panic not because of our deficits but because we are behaving like deadbeats, refusing to pay our bills, pouting while the bill collector waits at the door.

“We do have a large deficit and debt and we do need to get it under control… The tragedy here is that the damage may already have been done. From now on, every time the debt ceiling needs to be raised, the world will wonder: Will the U.S. stand by its promises or will it break them? Something that was taken for granted – the credibility of the United States – is now surrounded by uncertainty… IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde says that ‘Global markets have always had a positive bias towards the United States but that is now eroded somewhat.’ For this erosion, we have only ourselves to blame.”

It is true that much of the damage to the reputation of the US in all the world has been caused by our own irresponsible conduct—especially that of all of our politicians—and not only in the area of finances. But to try to justify constantly raising our exorbitant debt ceiling to enable us to borrow even more money, as CNN suggests, is beyond human comprehension.

The Shocking Increases of Our Debt Limit…

CBS News reported on August 1:

“The bill [signed by President Obama] to increase the federal debt limit [will] increase that limit by up to $2.4 trillion, which [is] the largest increase in the debt limit in U.S. history by a margin of half a trillion dollars… In fact… the two largest debt-limit increases in U.S. history [have] come in back-to-back years, both during the presidency of Barack Obama. Up until now, the largest increase in the debt limit was the $1.9 trillion increase passed by Congress and signed by President Obama on Feb. 12, 2010. That law increased the debt limit from $12.394 trillion to $14.294 trillion.

“Up until now, the second largest historical increase in the debt limit was enacted on March 27, 2003, when President George W. Bush signed a law that lifted the limit by $984 billion—from $6.400 trillion to $7.384 trillion. The third largest historical increase in the debt limit was enacted on Nov. 5, 1990, when the senior President George Bush signed a law that lifted the limit by $915 billion—from $3.230 trillion to $4.145 trillion.

“Prior to Sept. 28, 1987, the Treasury did not have the legal authority to run a national debt of $2.4 trillion—let alone increase the debt limit by that amount. On that date, President Reagan signed a law lifting the debt limit by $448 billion—from $2.352 trillion to $2.8 trillion. The total debt of the federal government did not hit $2.4 trillion until November 1987, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. According to Treasury’s Monthly Statements of the Public Debt, the national debt equaled $2.3848 trillion at the end of October 1987 and $2.409572 trillion by the end of November 1987.”

One wonders when the next increase in the debt ceiling will occur—and for how much? One of these days, no increase of the debt ceiling, no matter how high the amount, will prevent the total collapse of our economy.

“The Risky Victory for Obama”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on August 1:

“On August 2, the United States will be able to pay its bills again. Global financial markets will be able to breathe a little easier and the feared Armageddon will have been averted. During the next decade, US federal government expenditures are to shrink by $1 trillion, and a special committee in Congress is expected to outline an additional $1.5 trillion in savings by the end of November.

“If they are unable to reach a deal on the additional savings, then cuts will automatically be made across the board, including to the defense budget and to social welfare payments — two extremely expensive programs that are championed by conservatives and liberals. In exchange, the US debt ceiling will be raised in two stages by up to $2.4 trillion over the current level of $14.3 trillion. This will enable the US government to remain solvent and pay its bills — at least through 2012, and past the next presidential election…

“But can Obama truly breathe any easier?… Left-leaning members of the Democratic Party and ultra-conservative Republicans aligned with the Tea Party movement in both houses are unhappy with many of the details in the agreement… The spending cuts will hit programs that are particularly coveted by the left-wing of the Democratic Party — programs aimed at seniors, the poor, children and young people.

“At the same time, the Republicans have also managed to keep the issue of raising taxes taboo, despite the fact that the majority of the US population would prefer a mix of austerity measures and a rise in tax revenues. Currently, America’s tax ratio is the lowest it has been in decades… In the planned second round of consultations on spending cuts, tax adjustments could also be back on the table — at least in theory. But they wouldn’t stand any chance of passage. Of the 240 Republican members of the House of Representatives, 234 have signed a pledge stating they would not approve tax increases, regardless of the circumstances…

“The compromise also marks a break from Obama’s political course up until now. The [Democrats] long pushed for greater government spending in order to stimulate the stagnant economy. Now, however, the focus will be on austerity, even if many economists feel that is the wrong step given the stagnant US economic growth of 1.3 percent…

“Sunday’s compromise can’t really be chalked up as any major success for Obama, not least because it was largely the Republicans who succeeded in getting the concessions they had demanded… At the same time, it is the very Republicans who are now celebrating who might help steer Obama out of the crisis — including the one within his own party. If they agree on a presidential candidate who scares left-leaning Democrats, then they will once again flock to Obama — for better or for worse.”

“For better or for worse”—nicely put.

German Reactions…

Der Spiegel wrote on August 3:

“The German press has heavily covered the US debt ceiling debate, which is often juxtaposed with the current debt crisis in the euro zone. Editorial cartoonists, too, have tackled the issue. Some have even featured pictures of vultures, an image associated in Germany with someone or something that is bankrupt. One cartoon showed Mount Rushmore with four vulture heads replacing those of the four presidents. And a cartoon in the Financial Times Deutschland Wednesday shows a vulture running from Capitol Hill, uttering a promise that he will return.

“Concerns about the debt crisis play themselves out Wednesday in the editorial pages of German newspapers, where some commentators continue to analyze what the debate in Washington over the debt ceiling means for the world.

“The conservative daily Die Welt writes: ‘… it is without a doubt that the last-minute compromise between Democrats in the Senate and congressional Republicans has only pushed off dealing with the conflict to another day… On the one hand, there are the social democratic policies à la Obama, which in the spectrum of the US belong to the left wing. On the other hand are the father-knows-best austerity policies of the Tea Party. The Republicans block out the fact that in 2001 George W. Bush took over a solid budget from Bill Clinton, then waged a war without end in Afghanistan, and an unnecessary one in Iraq, all the while lowering taxes for those on the top. At issue is the role of the last superpower in maintaining peace and balance in the world.’

“The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung writes: ‘…Cuts of $2.1 trillion sound huge, but spread out over 10 years they make up only 1.5 percent of US economic output in today’s dollars. With inflation and growth this percentage would grow smaller…’

“The conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘In Washington, as an election year approaches, the parties and experts are arguing over who were the winners and losers in the debt compromise. The debate shows how far the political landscape has moved from the actual concerns of the American people. The biggest loser of the compromise is clearly the average American on Main Street… Even though a default has been prevented, the insecurity over the economic and financial policies in the US has risen, not declined. Despite good profits and overflowing company coffers, businesses are holding back on investment. A badly needed tax reform, that would sink the corporate tax rate, which is at a record level in international comparisons, has no chance with the ideologically dogged Democrats.’”

And so, politics reigns, and the average American citizen loses…

It All Looks Very Strange…

Der Spiegel published the following article on August 4:

“This week, the United States nearly allowed itself to succumb to economic disaster. Increasingly, the divided country has more in common with a failed state than a democracy. In the face of America’s apparent political insanity, Europe must learn to take care of itself… The US is a country where the system of government has fallen firmly into the hands of the elite. An unruly and aggressive militarism set in motion two costly wars in the past 10 years. Society is not only divided socially and politically — in its ideological blindness the nation is moving even farther away from the core of democracy…

“America has changed. It has drifted away from the West… it [has become] self-destructive… One can no longer depend on politics in America… From a European perspective, it all looks very strange: it’s a different political culture. There are other rules at play, different standards. More and more we view America with the clear notion that we are different… Nevertheless, at least one good opportunity springs from America’s fate: The further the United States distances itself from us, the more we will (have to) think for ourselves, as Europeans. The West? That’s us.”

And so, as prophesied, Europe will become more and more exclusive and antagonistic towards the USA…

“America’s Fiscal Situation Remains Deeply Problematic”

The Financial Times wrote on August 3:

“In the aftermath of the debt ceiling agreement there will be calls for further stimulus for America’s economy. This would be a grave mistake… [The] $800bn American stimulus package was largely a waste of money that sharply enlarged the fiscal hole now facing our economy. President Barack Obama’s administration has consistently overestimated the benefits of stimulus.

“…expansion of public debt… requires higher taxes, retarding growth… America’s fiscal situation remains deeply problematic…progress will be needed, sadly much of which will probably have to await the outcome of the next US election. Yet progress must be made – or the impending crises of governments, signalled by possible downgrades of US debt, will make the 2008-09 recession look mild.”

Uncivilized Appalling Political Rhetoric by Our Leaders

Politico reported on August 1:

“Vice President Joe Biden joined House Democrats in lashing tea party Republicans Monday, accusing them of having ‘acted like terrorists’ in the fight over raising the nation’s debt limit, according to several sources in the room… ‘We have negotiated with terrorists,’ an angry Doyle said, according to sources in the room. ‘This small group of terrorists have made it impossible to spend any money.’ Biden, driven by his Democratic allies’ misgivings about the debt-limit deal, responded: ‘They have acted like terrorists.’

“Biden’s office initially declined to comment about what the vice president said inside the closed-door session, but after POLITICO published the remarks, spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff said: ‘The word was used by several members of Congress. The vice president does not believe it’s an appropriate term in political discourse.’ Biden later denied he used that term in an interview with CBS… Earlier in the day, Biden told Senate Democrats that Republican leaders have ‘guns to their heads’ in trying to negotiate deals…

“Biden told Democratic lawmakers that the deal would take away the tea party’s ‘weapon of mass destruction’ — the threat of a default on U.S. debt obligations. ‘They have no compunction about blowing up the economy to get what they want,’ Doyle told POLITICO…”

Sadly, this unbecoming conduct and these condemnatory accusations are just a reflection and a mirror of the behavior pattern which has become commonplace in our civilized “Christian” society.

Worldwide Pessimism About Economy

The Los Angeles Times wrote on August 4:

“The Dow Jones industrial average plunged more than 350 points this morning as increasing pessimism about the economy overtook investors around the globe… Most stock markets in Europe were down at least 2% as the trading day there drew to a close after prices declined steadily during the day. Investors there are worried about increasing debt problems in Italy and Spain. The drop in the U.S. came after a one-day respite Wednesday from nearly two weeks of declines.

“Before trading opened on Wall Street, the Labor Department announced that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits last week fell slightly from the week before. But the report, following a raft of disappointing economic data in recent days, was taken by many gloomy investors to indicate only that the stalled job market is not improving…

“Investors have been moving into perceived safe havens such as gold, Treasury bonds and the Swiss and Japanese currencies. The value of the yen was down Thursday about 3% against the dollar after Japan’s central bank moved overnight to sell yen to protect the country’s export economy. Switzerland’s central bank took a similar step Wednesday to limit the value of the Swiss franc.”

Libyan Rebels in Disarray?

Deutsche Welle reported on July 29:

“Libyan rebel military chief Abdel Fattah Younes has been shot dead… in an incident that may point to divisions within the forces opposed to the rule of strongman Moammar Gadhafi… Younes’ death is likely to deal a severe blow to the rebel Transitional National Council (TNC), which has won the official recognition of some 30 countries… [The killing] is indicative of schisms that have been appearing within the TNC over the last few months …

“Younes was reportedly unhappy in recent months after the TNC appointed a former army general, Khalifa Hefter, as commander of the opposition. Since then, Younes and Hefter were reported to have frequently argued over… strategic military plans… regarding fighting tactics at the front.”

As we have expressed from the outset, a quick and decisive victory against Gadhafi is far from certain.

How Israel Wages War Against Iran’s Nuclear Program

Der Spiegel Online reported on August 2:

“One atomic researcher after the other has died in a series of recent murders in Iran. Is Israel’s Mossad trying to sabotage the construction of a nuclear bomb with the attacks? Officials in Jerusalem aren’t denying anything. Israeli military generals are even more hawkish, and their calls for air strikes on Iran are growing louder. ‘Israel is not responding,’ Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said earlier this week when asked if his country had been involved in the latest slaying of an Iranian nuclear scientist. It didn’t exactly sound like a denial, and the smile on his face suggested Israel isn’t too bothered by suspicions that it is responsible for a series of murders of physicists involved in the controversial Iranian nuclear program.

“There is little doubt in the shadowy world of intelligence agencies that Israel is behind the assassination of Darioush Rezaei. ‘That was the first serious action taken by the new Mossad chief Tamir Pardo,’ an Israeli intelligence source told SPIEGEL ONLINE. On July 23, Rezaei became the latest victim in a mysterious series of attacks over the past 20 months which has seen the virtual decimation of the Islamic republic’s elite physicists. The 35-year-old died after being shot in the throat in front of his daughter’s kindergarten in east Tehran. The Iranian press has reported that the two alleged perpetrators in the attack escaped on a motorcycle… the physics student had worked on the development of high-voltage switching systems, a key component that is crucial to setting off the explosions needed to trigger a nuclear warhead. The physicist had apparently been seen daily at a nuclear research center in northern Tehran… Rezaei is the third Iranian nuclear physicist who has paid for his job with his life since the start of 2010.

“In January 2010, the nuclear physicist Masoud Ali Mohammadi died when a remotely detonated bomb rigged to a motorcycle exploded next to his car. Western experts considered Mohammadi to be one of Iran’s top nuclear scientists. On Nov. 29, 2010, unknown perpetrators committed two attacks which involved motorcyclists attaching explosive devices to their victims’ cars while driving. Majid Shahriari, a professor of nuclear physics who specialized in neutron transport, which is relevant for making bombs, was killed when his car exploded. His wife was seriously injured in the attack. Fereidoun Abbasi was targeted in a simultaneous attack. Abbasi, an expert in nuclear isotope separation, noticed the suspicious motorcyclist, however, and he and his wife jumped out of the car. They were both injured in the explosion. After Abbasi recovered, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appointed him as one of Iran’s vice presidents as well as head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization…

“Washington denies any responsibility: ‘We were not involved,’ a spokeswoman for the US State Department said in response to Rezaei’s death. Israel, for its part, has opted for a policy of ambiguous silence… According to sources in Israeli intelligence, the killings are part of a campaign to sabotage, or at least slow down, Iran’s nuclear program. The alleged campaign also involves other tactics as well as targeted assassinations. The cyber-attack using the Stuxnet computer virus, which paralyzed large parts of the Iranian nuclear program in the summer of 2010, is supposedly also part of Israel’s secret campaign against Iran. But for hardliners in the Israeli military, the covert action does not go far enough.

“The calls for bombing Iran are getting louder and louder, especially among Israeli Air Force officers, the informant told SPIEGEL ONLINE. There is apparently a heated debate about the effectiveness of such assassination campaigns and whether they can fulfill their goal, reported Yossi Melman, intelligence expert at the Israeli daily Haaretz. In addition, Israel has already faced fierce criticism over other assassinations allegedly committed by its agents in foreign countries. Until now, Mossad experts have been able to convince decision-makers that the construction of an Iranian bomb can best be delayed through attacks on key figures and nuclear facilities. But it is unclear how long Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will continue to follow this advice. Politicians in Jerusalem know well that Mossad is also pursuing its own interests when it argues that its agents should play the leading role in the struggle against Iran… Whether there will be an open attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the future will partly depend on whether the Israeli military or intelligence wins the internal power struggle…”

On August 2, Haaretz quoted the article by Der Spiegel, clarifying the following:

“The man, who was killed last Saturday, was initially identified by state-run media as Darioush Rezaei, a physics professor and expert in neutron transport. The media then backtracked, with officials subsequently naming him as Dariush Rezaeinejad, an electronics PhD student. Foreign officials contacted by the Associated Press have verified the name, but say that Rezaeinedjad participated in developing high-voltage switches, a key component that is crucial to setting off the explosions needed to trigger a nuclear warhead.”

It appears almost certain that a war between Israel and Iran will ensue. This time, however, Israel might not win this war, as the Bible strongly indicates. Please compare the Current Events on Israel and Iran in our last Update.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards Commander New President of OPEC

The Guardian reported on August 3:

“A senior Iranian revolutionary guards commander targeted by international sanctions has taken over the presidency of Opec after he became Iran’s oil minister on Wednesday. Rostam Ghasemi, head of the Khatam al-Anbia military and industrial base… is currently subject to US, EU and Australian sanctions and his assets have been blacklisted by US Treasury and western powers… Iranian state media interpreted the vote as a reaction by Iran’s parliament to international sanctions against the country, especially those which have targeted the revolutionary guards and the country’s nuclear programme…

“The appointment of Ghasemi as Iran’s oil minister automatically makes him the head of Opec which has a crucial role in determining oil prices. As its second-largest crude oil exporter, Iran took the presidency of Opec after 36 years last October and Ghasemi’s position will give the revolutionary guards a unique opportunity to influence an international organisation.”

Whether Iran will use this prestigious and influential position to determine oil prices to the detriment of America and the West, will have to be seen.

Mubarak on Trial

Reuters reported on August 3:

“Egyptians and their fellow Arabs were enthralled on Wednesday by the unprecedented sight of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, a leader of the region for three decades and the Arab Spring’s biggest scalp, being wheeled into court to face trial. Outside the courtroom in Cairo, they watched on a big screen as the octogenarian, who ruled Egypt for 30 years, lay on a hospital bed connected to a drip and denied involvement in the killing of protesters who ousted him…

“The opening of the trial coincided with a push by Syrian forces into the heart of Hama… Mubarak was not the first Arab leader to fall in the Arab Spring, but he is the first to stand trial in person. Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, who was toppled first, fled to Saudi Arabia and was tried in absentia… If convicted, Mubarak could face the death penalty, though few expect that outcome even if some protesters wish it.

“Some dismissed the proceedings. A government adviser in Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally that tolerates no dissent and has no political parties, criticised putting Mubarak on trial. ‘You realise that these idiotic people are going to destroy whatever is left of the Egyptian state, this is a masquerade,’ the adviser said. ‘This is a humiliating spectacle for everyone. There is nothing to be proud of. Time will tell.’

“… the images of Egypt’s former president and a war veteran, who always presented himself as a father figure protecting the nation, gained him some sympathy…”

We tend to agree with the assessment of the government adviser in Saudi Arabia, as quoted above. As Die Welt wrote on August 3: “Instead of letting the old man die in peace, the military is playing a loathsome and dangerous game with public rage…”

German Government Sued Over Tank Deal with Saudi Arabia

Deutsche Welle reported on August 1:

“Former development minister, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, spoke out against the German government on Monday for the suspected sale of 200 ‘Leopard’ combat tanks to Saudi Arabia… ‘The tank deal with Saudi Arabia is a catastrophic decision,’ she said. In selling the tanks, Germany has ‘supported an authoritarian, despotic regime’… Wieczorek-Zeul’s comments came just a day after Germany’s opposition Green party announced it had launched a complaint with the country’s highest court over the sale of the tanks… Until now, it has been German government policy not to export heavy weapons to the authoritarian regime in Saudi Arabia.”

Please note our Q&A in this Update on the history and future of Saudi Arabia.

Joint German-French Ventures for Military Aircraft, Naval Construction and Torpedoes

The Local reported on August 1:

“Germany and France are reportedly considering a military ship-building alliance, an ‘EADS of the Seas,’ that could resemble their current arrangement for military aircraft.

“The European defence group EADS, owner of plane maker Airbus, manufactures military helicopters and the A400 military transport plane. Berlin and Paris are considering opening talks later this year on a similar alliance in the field of naval construction, which would involve the German ThyssenKrupp group and the French DCNS military dockyards… Germany had long rejected such a deal, fearing disputes with France over political control of the group and over which dockyards would remain open.

“Nonetheless, a recent failure by ThyssenKrupp to sell its Blohm and Voss dockyards to Abu Dhabi MAR has given new impetus to the project, which is backed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the [Financial Times Deutschland] said. A joint venture might see France take charge of the construction of frigates, while Germany would be responsible for submarines, the paper suggested.

“A recent deal between the French DCNS and the German electronic specialist Atlas Elektronik, a joint venture involving ThyssenKrupp and EADS, for manufacturing torpedoes could serve as an initial test for such a joint venture, the paper added.’’

While Germany and France are collaborating more and more in economic and military matters, Great Britain seems to be on her way out of the EU—see our next article.

British Citizens Want Referendum on EU Membership

The Daily Express wrote on August 2:

“The British public should get a referendum on European Union membership, a Daily Express poll confirms today. An overwhelming 99 per cent of our readers say the time has come for voters to decide if the UK should be freed from the shackles of Brussels, our exclusive survey reveals. Asked if Britons should be given a vote on quitting the EU, they answered with a resounding ‘Yes’. Support for our petition to force a vote smashed through the 40,000 barrier yesterday…

“The Government has said that it will consider any public campaign backed by 100,000 signatures for a debate in Parliament. After just three days of the petition being active we are well on the way to that target.

“This newspaper’s historic crusade – the first to demand that Britain must quit the EU – has already been backed by almost 400,000 people in a postal coupon campaign earlier this year. Now our readers can force the issue direct to the heart of Government again via the e-petition and by sending in letters of support. Last night the colossal surge of support was being viewed as a warning to Brussels that Britain has had enough of meddling, financial fears and an ever-growing tax burden.”

Once a referendum is placed before the British people, it is almost certain that the decision will be against staying in the EU.

Global Warming in Doubt

Yahoo News and Forbes reported on July 27:

“NASA satellite data from the years 2000 through 2011 show the Earth’s atmosphere is allowing far more heat to be released into space than alarmist computer models have predicted, reports a new study in the peer-reviewed science journal Remote Sensing. The study indicates far less future global warming will occur than United Nations computer models have predicted, and supports prior studies indicating increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide trap far less heat than alarmists have claimed.

“Study co-author Dr. Roy Spencer, a principal research scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and U.S. Science Team Leader for the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer flying on NASA’s Aqua satellite, reports that real-world data from NASA’s Terra satellite contradict multiple assumptions fed into alarmist computer models. ‘The satellite observations suggest there is much more energy lost to space during and after warming than the climate models show,’ Spencer said in a July 26 University of Alabama press release. ‘There is a huge discrepancy between the data and the forecasts that is especially big over the oceans’…

“The new findings are extremely important and should dramatically alter the global warming debate… In short, the central premise of alarmist global warming theory is that carbon dioxide emissions should be directly and indirectly trapping a certain amount of heat in the earth’s atmosphere and preventing it from escaping into space. Real-world measurements, however, show far less heat is being trapped in the earth’s atmosphere than the alarmist computer models predict, and far more heat is escaping into space than the alarmist computer models predict…”

This incident serves again as an example as to how stats and figures can be manipulated and misinterpreted by our scientific “experts” to reach a certain desired result.

“And the Waters Turned to Blood…”

Life Science and Yahoo News reported on August 2:

“A Texas lake that turned blood-red this summer may not be a sign of the End Times, but probably is the end of a popular fishing and recreation spot. A drought has left the OC Fisher Reservoir in San Angelo State Park in West Texas almost entirely dry. The water that is left is stagnant, full of dead fish — and a deep, opaque red. The color has some apocalypse believers suggesting that OC Fisher is an early sign of the end of the world, but Texas Parks and Wildlife Inland Fisheries officials say the bloody look is the result of Chromatiaceae bacteria, which thrive in oxygen-deprived water…

“Texas is experiencing major drought this summer, with 75 percent of the state’s area in an ‘exceptional’ drought, the highest level, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC). The state had hoped for some relief from Tropical Storm Don last week, but the system fizzled and brought only an inch or two of rain to areas near the coast…

“Pictures of this blood-red pool circulated online in fishing forums and caught the notice of Indiana preacher Paul Begley, who said in a YouTube video that the lake might be evidence of the apocalypse as predicted by the Biblical book of Revelation. ‘The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died,’ the passage Begley cited reads. ‘The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.’

“Begley may not have any more luck at predicting the end of the world than did Harold Camping, the radio preacher who set the date for May 21, 2011. But for as long as the drought persists, the OC Fisher reservoir is a reservoir no longer…”

Considering the time line of the prophetic events, the quoted Scripture in the book of Revelation does of course not apply to the current situation in Texas—but it might give us a glimpse of the terrible occurrences which mankind will experience in the not-too-distant future.

Mass Murder in Norway

Reuters reported on July 24:

“The man suspected of Norway’s gun and bomb massacre had belonged to an anti-immigration party and opposed multi-culturalism, Islam and the ‘cultural Marxists’ of the establishment, web postings, acquaintances and officials said Saturday… [He] was accused of gunning down 85 people at a youth camp and killing another seven in a bomb attack on Friday… [He] was a freemason, said a spokesman for the organization. Freemasons meet in secretive fraternal groups in many parts of the world.

“The suspected killer was also a member of the Oslo gun club and was fond of weightlifting… His tastes in music included classical and trance, a hypnotic form of dance music. The profile veered between references to political philosophers and gory popular films, TV shows and video games.”

Some left-liberal papers have also labeled Norway’s mass murderer as a “fundamentalist Christian.” His Satan-inspired actions have nothing to do with true Christianity. How can one harmonize his murders with Christ’s words to Peter: “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Matthew 26:52)?

On the other hand, his abominable conduct will unfortunately provoke a reaction from our left-wing liberal media of propagating multi-culturalism, and they will serve as a foundation for further criticism of and attacks on so-called “fundamental” Christianity, without realizing that true “fundamental” Christianity is the acceptance of all biblical teachings and commandments, including the one against killing others… However, notice also the next article.

“Christian” or Not?

WorldNetDaily reported on July 24:

“A review of Anders Behring Breivik’s 1,500-page manifesto shows the media’s quick characterization of the Norwegian terrorist as a ‘Christian’ may be as incorrect as it was to call Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh one… Yet, while McVeigh rejected God altogether, Breivik writes in his manifesto that he is not religious, has doubts about God’s existence, does not pray, but does assert the primacy of Europe’s ‘Christian culture’ as well as his own pagan Nordic culture.

“Breivik… hails Charles Darwin, whose evolutionary theories stand in contrast to the claims of the Bible… The terrorist also candidly admits he finds no support within either the Catholic or Protestant churches for his violent ideas.”

“Multi-Culturalism HAS Failed…”

The EUObserver wrote on July 25:

“Europe’s far-right wing parties have condemned Friday’s massacre in Norway with the confessed gunman… having used some of their central tenets – anti-immigration and nationalism – to justify his actions. The 32-year old Norwegian national… wrote a 1,500 page manifesto in which he strongly condemns Norway’s liberal policies and Europe’s multi-culturalism as a whole saying it is leading to the ‘Islamisation of Europe’…

“Geert Wilders of the Dutch Freedom Party said the killer was a ‘violent and sick character’ and said his party ‘offers its condolences to all the families of the victims and to the Norwegian people.’ Marine Le Pen, leader of the anti-immigrant National Front… said her party has ‘nothing to do with the Norwegian slaughter, which is the work of a lone lunatic who must be ruthlessly punished’…

“EU leaders have also spoken out strongly. German chancellor Angela Merkel called it an ‘appalling crime’, France’s Nicolas Sarkozy said it was ‘odious and unacceptable’… However the crimes are bound to unleash some soul-searching generally in the EU where the far-right has been growing, tapping into an anti-foreigner sentiment and fears about jobs as the bloc struggles [to] cope with the economic downturn.

“This has resulted in centre-right leaders such as Sarkozy trying to steal back some political ground by talking up the importance of national identity and taking a stronger stance on immigration.  Last year, Angela Merkel said that multi-culturalism had ‘utterly failed’ while UK prime minister David Cameron also tackled the issue head on in February saying ‘state multiculturalism has failed’.”

This correct assessment is bound to be second-guessed by our left-wing liberal media, in light of the atrocities by a “lunatic.”

Our Left Media–Trying to Throw Out the Babe with the Bathwater

CNN reported on July 24:

“The far right in Europe has enjoyed a renaissance over the past 30 years, driven by resentment of the growing powers of the European Union and by rejection of the ‘multiculturalism’ that has accompanied rapid immigration from the developing world.

“Political parties opposing immigration and integration have done well in elections in recent years — and beyond them, neo-fascist and ‘national socialist’ groups have become well-established across the continent, including in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Scandinavia, Hungary and the United Kingdom…

“…As the conservative German newspaper Die Welt put it in May: ‘Neither open borders nor a common currency have led the countries to grow closer with one another. It’s just the opposite. They insist on clinging to their national characteristics.’”

Pure and simple, the Bible does not support multiculturalism, and when Jesus Christ returns to rule this earth, multiculturalism won’t  exist. At the same time, U.S. right wingers, like Glen Beck, do nothing to help the situation, either, as can be seen in the next article.

Glenn Beck’s Comments “a New Low” and “Absolutely Disgusting”

The Israeli paper, Haaretz, reported on July 26:

“Glenn Beck, the American right-wing talk-show host, compared the victims of a shooting at a Norwegian summer camp to Hitler Youth in his radio program on Monday, according to a Daily Telegraph report… Beck described the brutal incident ‘as a shooting at a political camp, which sounds a little like the Hitler Youth. I mean who sends their kids to a political camp? Disturbing,’ he added…

“Torbjørn Eriksen, a former press secretary to Jens Stoltenberg, Norway’s prime minister, called Beck’s comments ‘a new low’ for the broadcaster, who is known for his controversial, often offensive statements. ‘Young political activists have gathered at Utoya for over 60 years to learn about and be part of democracy, the very opposite of what the Hitler Youth was about,’ he told The Daily Telegraph. ‘Glenn Beck’s comments are ignorant, incorrect and extremely hurtful.’

“The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, a Washington-based campaign group, called the remarks ‘absolutely disgusting.’”

America… Talks and Talks and More Talks…

Politico wrote on July 24:

“First came the Biden talks. When those blew up, the Obama-Boehner talks took center stage. And when that failed, the McConnell-Reid talks looked promising. And after they faltered, the Obama-Boehner talks tried to find a new life. Now it’s all come down to the Boehner-Reid-Pelosi-McConnell talks to solve the debt crisis. Notably absent? The president…

“House conservatives have grown deeply distrustful of Obama’s motivations and were skeptical of the ‘grand bargain’ Boehner was negotiating with the president. He didn’t share the details of his negotiations with the House Republican Conference and many of them were privately concerned about any agreement between Obama and the speaker, particularly on the thorny issue of tax increases…

“But both sides are also plainly worried about 2012 campaign politics: Democrats in the Senate have to defend 23 seats and Obama has to worry about reelection, and neither Reid nor Obama want to relive this messy battle over the debt ceiling before November 2012…”

And so, the political gamble for votes and the career politicians’ play with fire continues, which could potentially ignite the USA and the entire world…

The American Nightmare

Deutsche Welle reported on July 25:

“Republicans and Democrats continue to talk past each other as the [August 2] deadline for raising Washington’s debt ceiling looms. The political impasse, which could have a global impact, has triggered international criticism… If Republicans and Democrats fail to hammer out a deal by August 2, Washington will default on its $14 trillion national debt, which could send tremors around a world still reeling from the economic crisis.

“‘The irony of the situation at the moment… is that the biggest threat to the world financial system comes from a few right-wing nutters in the American Congress rather than the eurozone, ’ said Vince Cable, Britain’s business secretary and a member of the Liberal Democrats. The polarization in the United States is more reminiscent of the divisions in developing Latin American nations, according to Peter Hakim, head of the Inter-American Dialogue policy group… Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez, whose own nation defaulted on $100 billion in debt a decade ago, openly wondered how the political situation in Washington had become so intransigent. ‘When did the American dream become a nightmare?’ Fernandez asked.”

Yes, when indeed? But it is quickly becoming one…

If Washington Stopped Interest Payments for Just a Few Days…

Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 27:

“Even if Washington stopped interest payments for just a few days, it could have global consequences far greater than a Greek bankruptcy. Investors would be left not knowing who[m] to trust — particularly given debt problems in the euro zone and ongoing economic difficulties in Japan. Lack of confidence in global economic leaders would almost certainly lead to serious global economic difficulties…

“Even if the worst is avoided, US finances are still a mess. Total debt is approaching 100 percent of gross domestic product, putting it in the same league as Italy, Portugal and Ireland, three of the euro-zone’s famous PIIGS states. America’s budget deficit is well over a trillion dollars — more than 10 percent of GDP. Were Washington to apply to become a member of the European common currency zone, it would be rejected out of hand.”

Now, that last statement is extremely telling and should wake up everybody who might still live with the illusion that America is not really in big economic trouble…

US Taxpayer Money Supporting Taliban

The Washington Post reported on July 24:

“A year-long military-led investigation has concluded that U.S. taxpayer money has been indirectly funneled to the Taliban under a $2.16 billion transportation contract that the United States has funded in part to promote Afghan businesses. The unreleased investigation provides seemingly definitive evidence that corruption puts U.S. transportation money into enemy hands, a finding consistent with previous inquiries carried out by Congress, other federal agencies and the military. Yet U.S. and Afghan efforts to address the problem have been slow and ineffective, and all eight of the trucking firms involved in the work remain on U.S. payroll. In March, the Pentagon extended the contract for six months.

“According to a summary of the investigation results… the military found ‘documented, credible evidence .?.?. of involvement in a criminal enterprise or support for the enemy’ by four of the eight prime contractors. Investigators also cited cases of profiteering, money laundering and kickbacks to Afghan power brokers, government officials and police officers. Six of the companies were found to have been associated with ‘fraudulent paperwork and behavior.’…

“Six of the eight companies chosen as prime contractors… are owned by Afghans or are joint Afghan-international ventures. Two are considered U.S.-owned, including the Washington-based Sandi Group and NCL Holdings, whose founder and president… is the son of Afghanistan’s defense minister. The new investigation… did not identify which of the companies are implicated in payments to insurgents, nor does it quantify how much money has been misspent or transferred to insurgents.”

Frankly, it is no surprise that in a corrupt country like Afghanistan, U.S. taxpayer money is being terribly abused. Of course, the entire military invasion of Afghanistan under U.S. leadership has been a colossal failure from the start.

Germany’s Double Stance

CNN reported on July 24:

“Germany announced Sunday it has agreed to lend 100 million euros ($144 million) to the rebels in Libya for ‘civilian and humanitarian purposes’ despite staying out of NATO’s bombing campaign against Libyan government forces. Germany had previously announced a loan of $10 million (7 million euros) for humanitarian aid to the Transitional National Council, the rebel movement that is battling to unseat longtime Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi…

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in June that her country shares the hope ‘that this NATO mission is successful.’ Merkel also said Germany was supporting the NATO mission by providing increased resources to the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan, freeing other nations to contribute to the Libyan campaign. Germany has recognized the rebels as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people and established a liaison office with the opposition in Benghazi in May.”

Germany wants to have it both ways. On the one hand, they do not directly support the war against Gadhafi, and on the other hand, they do. This way, they think they will come out as the winner, no matter what the outcome might be. This may work for a while in this Satan-ruled world, but God hates such double standards and duplicity. James tells us: “But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ ‘No,’” (James 5:12), and Jesus adds, “For whatever is more than these is from the evil one” (Matthew 5:37).

Eurozone to Become a Fiscal Union

The Telegraph wrote on July 21:

“…the only conceivable salvation for the eurozone is to impose greater fiscal integration among member states. This advice was finally being taken yesterday – and it is almost impossible to overestimate the importance of the decision which European leaders seemed last night to be reaching. By authorising a huge expansion in the bail-out fund that is propping up the EU’s peripheral members (largely in order to stop the contagion spreading to Italy and Spain), the eurozone has taken the decisive step to becoming a fiscal union.

“So long as the settlement is accepted by national parliaments, yesterday will come to be seen as the witching hour after which Europe will cease to be, except vestigially, a collection of nation states. It will have one economic government, one currency, one foreign policy. This integration will be so complete that taxpayers in the more prosperous countries will be expected to pay for the welfare systems and pension plans of failing EU states.

“This is the final realisation of the dream that animated the founders of the Common Market more than half a century ago – which is one reason why so many prominent Europeans have privately welcomed the eurozone catastrophe, labelling it a ‘beneficial crisis’…

“Germany is busy turning into one of the most dynamic and productive economies in the world. Despite the grumbling, for the Germans, the bail-outs are worth every penny, because they guarantee a cheap outlet for their manufactured goods. Yesterday’s witching hour of the European Union means that Germany has come very close to realising Bismarck’s dream of an economic empire stretching from central Europe to the Eastern Mediterranean…”

As we pointed out in the Current Events of our previous Update No. 501, the establishment of a European fiscal union will greatly diminish the concept of democracy in Europe, and it will catapult Germany into a leadership role which will far exceed any influence that it might have had in the past. Please also note the next article.

“Merkel Saves the Euro… and Herself”

The Local wrote on July 22:

“Has Angela Merkel saved the euro? That’s certainly how the German chancellor was presenting it after an emergency EU summit on Thursday forged yet another bailout package for heavily indebted Greece. With the eurozone’s sovereign debt crisis festering for months, Merkel has faced a barrage of criticism both at home and abroad for failing to lead Europe out of its worst economic crisis since the single currency was introduced 12 years ago…

“The latest rescue deal greatly stretches the timeframe for Greece to repay its debt while lowering the interest rate Athens will have to pay. Crucially for Merkel, it also includes a €50-billion contribution from private creditors – something Berlin had long demanded… Merkel had clearly realized that sitting on the sidelines was simply no longer an option… Merkel knows that, as an exporting nation few countries have benefited from the euro as much as Germany. But she has hesitated until now to simply pick up the tab…

“The impact of Merkel’s disengagement throughout the euro crisis has been remarkable: No other major economy is doing as well as Germany right now, but her centre-right coalition is also extremely unpopular… But now it seems clear to everyone inside the Chancellery that Merkel’s political fate and the euro have become inextricably intertwined. In saving the euro, Merkel saves herself… for the eurozone the change couldn’t have come a moment too soon.”

Germany Biggest Foreign Investor after the USA

The Local wrote on July 28:

“German companies are investing abroad like never before, making the country the world’s biggest foreign investor after the United States. That’s according to a new United Nations report which shows Germany far ahead of the countries like China, Japan and France. Among Germany’s largest investors abroad are communications company Deutsche Telekom as well as carmaker Volkswagen and logistics firm Deutsche Post.

“Germany’s international footprint has become enormous. In 2009, the country’s companies had about $78 billion (€54 billion) invested abroad, whereas investment had ballooned to $105 billion by last year. Still, the country trails far behind the United States, whose companies have more than $300 billion invested overseas…”

But what will happen when the American economic system collapses…?

Attack on Iran in September?

On July 17, alJazeera.net reported the following:

“A longtime CIA officer [Robert Baer] who spent 21 years in the Middle East is predicting that Israel will bomb Iran in the fall, dragging the United States into another major war and endangering US military and civilian personnel (and other interests) throughout the Middle East and beyond… Robert Baer has had a storied career, including a stint in Iraq in the 1990s where he organised opposition to Saddam Hussein. (He was recalled after being accused of trying to organise Saddam’s assassination.) Upon his retirement, he received a top decoration for meritorious service.

“Baer is no ordinary CIA operative… He obviously won’t name many of his sources in Israel, the United States, and elsewhere, but the few he has named are all Israeli security figures who have publically warned that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are hell-bent on war… There is almost ‘near certainty’ that Netanyahu is ‘planning an attack [on Iran] … and it will probably be in September before the vote on a Palestinian state. And he’s also hoping to draw the United States into the conflict’, Baer explained.

“The Israeli air force would attack ‘Natanz and other nuclear facilities to degrade their capabilities. The Iranians will strike back where they can: Basra, Baghdad’, he said, and even Afghanistan. Then the United States would jump into the fight with attacks on Iranian targets. ‘Our special forces are already looking at Iranian targets in Iraq and across the border [in Iran] which we would strike. What we’re facing here is an escalation, rather than a planned out-and-out war. It’s a nightmare scenario. We don’t have enough troops in the Middle East to fight a war like that.’ Baer added, ‘I think we are looking into the abyss’…

“It should be noted that the Iranian regime is quite capable of triggering a war with the United States through some combination of colossal stupidity and sheer hatred. In fact, as Baer explained, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard would welcome a war… they are worried about a population that increasingly despises the regime… If Israel bombed Iran tomorrow, Congress would forget all about their partisan differences and run, not walk, to the House and Senate floors to endorse the attack and call for unstinting support for Israel. That is what Congress always does, and will always do so long as the lobby (and the donors it directs) are the key players in making our Middle East policies.

“…an Israeli attack on Iran… would endanger countless Americans (in the region and here at home, too). It would kill off any economic recovery by causing oil prices to skyrocket. It would engulf us in another Middle East war. And it would threaten the existence of the state of Israel…”

Jesus prophesied that we will hear of wars and rumors of wars in these end times. The Bible also warns us that the state of Israel will receive a “wound” in a coming war, indicating a major blow or defeat. We are also told that the USA will be ultimately totally defeated in war.

Interestingly, when Israel receives its “wound,” it will apparently try to obtain help from Germany (modern Assyria), but Germany won’t be helping them (compare Hosea 5:13, New American Bible: “When Ephraim [modern Great Britain] saw his infirmity, and Judah [the state of Israel] his sore [or wound, compare New King James Bible], Ephraim went to Assyria [modern Germany], and Judah sent to the great king [King Jareb of Assyria, a coming modern powerful leader of Germany]. But he cannot heal you, nor take away your sore”).

This might indicate that at that time, Israel will try to obtain help from Germany, because the USA won’t be in a position anymore to help Israel.

Human Animal Hybrids

The Daily Mail wrote on July 24:

“Scientists have created more than 150 human-animal hybrid embryos in British laboratories. The hybrids have been produced secretively over the past three years by researchers looking into possible cures for a wide range of diseases. The revelation comes just a day after a committee of scientists warned of a nightmare ‘Planet of the Apes’ scenario in which work on human-animal creations goes too far…

“Figures seen by the Daily Mail show that 155 ‘admixed’ embryos, containing both human and animal genetic material, have been created since the introduction of the 2008 Human Fertilisation Embryology Act. This legalised the creation of a variety of hybrids, including an animal egg fertilised by a human sperm; ‘cybrids’, in which a human nucleus is implanted into an animal cell; and ‘chimeras’, in which human cells are mixed with animal embryos…

 “Human-animal hybrids are also created in other countries, many of which have little or no regulation…”

Scientists engage in abominable and ungodly behavior, but they always give a “reason” for doing so, saying in this case that it is for the greater good of curing diseases. How far will man go in his Satan-inspired desire to play God [in whom many scientists don’t even believe]? Surely, God will have to send His Son Jesus Christ back to this earth very soon to make an end to man’s God-defying conduct and his devilish experiments, which could have devastating and man-destroying consequences.

Is USA Holding World Hostage?

Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 15:

“With no solution to the US debt crisis in sight, the rest of the world is starting to get nervous. German commentators urge congressional leaders to get their act together. A US default would have catastrophic consequences, they warn… This time it is the United States, the world’s largest economy, that is at risk of going bust.

“The US needs to raise its debt ceiling, currently set at $14.3 trillion (€10.1 trillion), by Aug. 2, otherwise the country will run out of money. But negotiations between President Barack Obama and top Republicans and Democrats have so far failed to make progress… Financial markets, which have previously viewed the negotiations with calm, are beginning to get nervous amid fears that Republicans and Democrats may be unable to reach an agreement by Aug. 2. Any default on the part of the US could have incalculable effects on global financial markets and could hurt the fragile recovery in the US…

“The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘… A US default and a lower credit rating would … send stock prices through the floor and could choke off America’s economic recovery — with global repercussions. The politicians in Washington are playing with fire…’

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘…Nobody can imagine what the repercussions might be if the unthinkable happens and the US is suddenly no longer a safe haven for investors. Anything is possible, from a small, barely perceptible amount of turbulence in the financial markets to a global panic. Congress should think carefully about what it is doing.’

“The conservative Die Welt writes: ‘In this period of competing debt crises, America and Europe are looking at each other in amazement, with each side understanding less and less about what is happening on the other side of the Atlantic. While Europe’s chaos is obvious to the Europeans and the rest of the world, there are few signs of self-doubt or self-awareness in the US. In the middle of the poker game between the two political parties to prevent a national default on Aug. 2, polls show that 77 percent of Americans believe that they live in the world’s greatest system of government. Just as many are convinced that life is only worth living as an American…’

“The business daily Handelsblatt writes: ‘Washington still considers a default to be unimaginable. Obama does not want to go down in history as the president who bankrupted America, so the only alternative is another unsavory deal… The debt limit will be raised again just before the impending volcanic eruption, exacerbating the problem and postponing an attempt to solve the problem (of the US’s enormous debt) to the next, not too distant deadline. Investors are also counting on this scenario. That is the only explanation for the relative calm on the market for US government bonds. That will change if the European Union crisis countries manage to sort out their finances, while the US continues with its debt delusions…’

“The mass-circulation Bild writes: ‘Playing poker is part of politics, as is theatrical posturing. That’s fair enough. But what America is currently exhibiting is the worst kind of absurd theatrics. And the whole world is being held hostage. Irrespective of what the correct fiscal and economic policy should be for the most powerful country on earth, it’s simply not possible to stop taking on new debt overnight. Most importantly, the Republicans have turned a dispute over a technicality into a religious war, which no longer has any relation to a reasonable dispute between the elected government and the opposition. If it continues like this, the US will be bankrupt within a few days. It would cause a global shockwave like the one which followed the Lehman bankruptcy in 2008, which triggered the worst economic crisis since the war. Except it would be much worse than the Lehman bankruptcy. The political climate in the US has been poisoned to a degree that is hard for us (Germans) to imagine. But we should all fear the consequences.’”

Europe’s anger towards the USA intensifies. Even though it may not realize it yet, self-confident America is no longer in a position to just ignore the rest of the world. The Bible says that it will pay deeply for its pride and haughtiness.

Read and Weep

CNN Money wrote on July 20:

“Hoping Aug. 2 will come and go uneventfully? Read Wednesday’s comments from Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser and weep. Plosser… says the Federal Reserve is gearing up for a possible U.S. default should the loons in Congress fail to raise the debt ceiling. He stresses… that he isn’t predicting this baleful outcome, but he doesn’t underplay how quickly a default might spin out of control. The Fed, after all, is the government’s clearing bank. The process of deciding which checks to honor and which to bounce sounds a bit daunting, considering the scale of the government’s checkbook…

“There is also the question of whether the Fed, or anyone else for that matter, will continue treating Treasury debt as acceptable as collateral for loans backing all manner of things – Fed loans, brokerage accounts, you name it… The discussion at the Fed… highlights the possibility, however slim, that financial markets could utterly break down, and take the economy down with them, as lenders decide to shun government bonds as collateral till the U.S. budget debacle is cleared up. That means no lending, more or less. The credit crunch after the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy would seem like a fond memory after the economic plunge that would follow a mass rejection of Treasury debt as collateral. Those are among the ‘catastrophic’ effects Ben Bernanke has noted now and again, and if Plosser doesn’t go quite that far he doesn’t exactly do anything to put the mind at ease, either.”

Cheap Trick?

Newsmax reported on July 17:

“GOP leaders simply need to look at history to realize why they must reject Democratic pleas for tax hikes and focus on spending cuts to reduce the deficit, Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert tells Newsmax.TV in an exclusive interview… President Barack Obama wants a deal that will not include any spending cuts at all until after the next election. And that means they will never happen, Gohmert said… ‘After 1986, that tax reform that Reagan did – he was promised all kinds of tax cuts in return for what was done to the tax code. Well the cuts didn’t come,’ said Gohmert…

“Gohmert also said the president’s claim that Social Security payments may not be made after the Treasury’s Aug. 2 deadline for an agreement on raising the debt ceiling was bogus. ‘The fact is there’s $2.6 trillion in Treasury notes in the Social Security trust fund,’ he said. ‘There is enough money to pay every social security check for at least three years.’ And he said the seniors should stop worrying that they will not be getting their checks, as non-payment would be illegal…”

This position seems to be correct. The scare tactics might or might not work… but it’s a very dangerous play with fire. According to Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul, the USA will default in any event as “the debt is unsustainable,” as Real Clear Politics reported on July 19.

Obama’s Long Term Birth Certificate a Forgery?

WorldNetDaily wrote on July 17:

“Unless the typewriter used to type Barack Obama’s purported Hawaiian ‘Certificate of Live Birth’ in 1961 was magically capable of producing different size and shaped images with the exact same key, the document released by the White House April 27 is a forgery, says a professional typographer with 50 years experience. ‘Steel-stamped letters do not expand to larger sizes and morph into different styles of type,’ retired New York City typographer Paul Irey told WND… it would be impossible for the different letters that appear in the Obama birth certificate to have been typed by one typewriter, according to Irey.

“‘These are irrefutable proofs of forgery,’ he said. His newest analysis suggests the document was assembled from images of letters or words taken from other documents. ‘The forger who produced the Obama Hawaii long-form birth certificate may have thought that all typewriter typeface styles were alike,’ he said. ‘To get his letters, the forger must have understood that he needed to copy the old typewriter styles,’ he continued. ‘So the forger probably scanned a bunch of old birth certificates, without realizing that the letters in the old files were from different typewriter styles. That’s why the letters in the forged document do not match each other.’”

America’s Era in Space Ends…

The Telegraph wrote on July 21:

“I’ve been gripped by the Nasa feed of the last space shuttle returning to earth… At one level, it is easy to wonder quite why $180 billion has been spent on keeping an out-of-date white elephant in the air. But a few weeks ago when Prof Brian Cox gave a show-stopper of a lecture at Hay in which he included a picture of the distant speck of Earth taken by Voyager from the edge of the solar system, I was reminded of the irresistible attraction of this greatest of human adventures.

“… the manned space flight programme was a way for the US to assert its confidence and demonstrate its will to do anything required to be number one… with the idea of American exceptionalism under review and the US losing its mojo, we should not underestimate the capacity for this moment to be a blow to American morale.”

Is Mormonism Christian?

The Washington Post wrote on July 18:

“A Fox News host said Sunday that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is ‘obviously not … a Christian,’ a view that, if widely held, may have repercussions for the Mormon candidate’s election odds…

“The question of whether or not Mormons are considered ‘Christians’ is sensitive and controversial… About one in five Republicans, or 18 percent, said they would not vote for a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. … About the same proportion of independents said they would oppose a Mormon, while a larger number of Democrats, about 27 percent, said they were opposed, according to the poll.

“Catholic and Protestant churches believe that Mormons errantly revere the Book of Mormon and the teachings of LDS leaders and prophets such as Joseph Smith. To non-Mormons, the Latter-day Saint revelations are extra-biblical, even heretical, though in recent months a number of prominent Christian leaders and thinkers have defended Mormonism’s values…”

Powerful Europe Without Britain

The British paper, Express, wrote on July 13:

“First for the rather dramatic bad news: a United States of Europe will come into being by the end of the year, perhaps even by the end of the summer.  Now for the good news: Britain won’t be part of it…. A rational response would be to allow all these countries to re-establish their former currencies and let devaluation shrink their debts and kickstart growth. But there is an iron will among the Eurocrats not to let that happen because if it does then the dream of a federal Europe will be gone forever.

“So in Brussels and Berlin and Paris work is already proceeding apace on a plan to solve the failure of partial economic integration (monetary union) by leaping into full integration (fiscal union).  Fiscal union will mean centrally imposed public spending controls and, crucially, the acceptance that the treasuries of all eurozone countries will have ultimate liability for each other’s debts…

“But the cost in terms of lost democracy would be enormous… Their democracies will be hollowed out as all important economic decisions will require the consent of unelected officials in Brussels or Frankfurt (where the European Central Bank is based) with no recourse to domestic opinion…

“To convince German public opinion to take on this new guarantor duty, Germany will have to become the dominant force behind monetary and fiscal policy throughout the eurozone. It will, however reluctantly, have gained greater European domination through financial measures [than] it ever [has gained] by force of arms…

“… if the eurozone creates a United States of Europe while we obtain more independence from Brussels, then what argument can there be against Britain leaving the European Union altogether?… Our EU membership will be rendered almost meaningless by a wholly integrated core from which we are mercifully excluded… As our political class desperately resists demands for a referendum on departing from the EU, a startling new possibility is emerging: that well before we see Britain leaving Europe, we are going to see much of Europe leaving Britain.”

This article is almost prophetic. And it finds support in other publications. Die Welt wrote on July 17: “The Euro is not dead. It has a constructional mistake, which must be corrected. The monetary union has to become a fiscal union…” The Bible shows that an autocratic super power—the United States of Europe—will emerge, and all indications are that Great Britain won’t be part of it; in fact, core Europe will become very hostile towards it.

Britain Again the Odd Man Out

The EUObserver wrote on July 19:

“British foreign minister William Hague on Monday (18 July) said his country would ‘never’ agree to the idea of a single EU military headquarters to replace the command centres scattered around five member states… Ashton said that the British rebuke ‘did not come as a surprise to me. This is the same position as the previous British government,’ she explained…

“Initially a French pet project, the idea of establishing a single operational headquarters was written into the Ashton report as part of ‘different options’ being explored by ‘most member states’ on how to make the bloc’s common and foreign security policy more effective… Asked if she will now bin the plan of having a single command structure, Ashton said: ‘We continue to explore what we might be able to do, but I am conscious you can’t do much when unanimity of member states is required’…

“Commenting on the ‘excellent’ proposal, French minister Alain Juppe said it was a pity the British government did not show more flexibility. ‘A very large majority was in favour of the proposal of an EU military headquarters, pushed by the “Weimar countries,”’ he said, in reference to Poland, France and Germany. The single headquarters system would replace the current command structure which sees the EU military missions run out of national centres in Britain, France, Germany, Greece and Italy.”

We would predict that such a single European military headquarters will be established—at the latest, after Great Britain has exited the EU.

Euro Rises, Gold Falls

Reuters reported on July 21:

“World stocks and the euro rose on Thursday after news of a plan to use the European bailout fund to make cheap loans to Greece and other heavily indebted governments in the euro zone. The new proposal from a summit of European leaders in Brussels reduced fears the debt crisis would spread to other euro zone countries and led traders to cut holdings of gold and U.S. and German government bonds.

“The European Financial Stability Facility, the zone’s bailout fund, will provide loans to Greece, Ireland and Portugal at a lower interest rate and for longer maturities, according to draft summit conclusions seen by Reuters.

“In the currency market, the euro rose to a two-week high. It gained 1.1 percent to $1.4367, erasing losses. While stocks and the euro rose, gold and U.S. and German government bond prices fell.”

Pope John Paul II to Become Patron of United Europe?

Zenit reported on July 13:

“‘Blinded by progress and well-being, the men of today are only interested in material goods and forget God, or live as if he didn’t exist,’ the archbishop [Dominique Mamberti] said. He recommended taking inspiration from the example of St. Benedict, patron of Europe… Hanna Suchocka, Polish ambassador to the Holy See… expressed the wish that the Polish Pope [“Blessed John Paul II”] will be considered by all as the ‘patron of a united Europe able to breathe fully with her two lungs.’”

The religious aspect of the unification of Europe must not be overlooked. The Bible shows that religion will play a tremendously important role in the formation of the United States of Europe.

The Failed Attempt to Kill Hitler

Deutsche Welle reported on July 20, 2011:

“On July 20, 1944, Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, an aristocratic colonel in the Nazi army, took the fate of the German people into his own hands. Increasingly disillusioned with Hitler’s campaign in the war, Stauffenberg and numerous other co-conspirators within the German military, including Friedrich Olbricht and Henning von Tresckow, plotted to assassinate the dictator and seize the reins of power.  Shortly after noon on a hot summer day, Stauffenberg smuggled an explosives-filled briefcase into a meeting at Hitler’s ‘Wolf’s Lair’ hideaway (in what is today Poland), where the dictator was seated around a large wooden table with 22 other Nazi officials.
 
“Stauffenberg placed the briefcase under the table, made an excuse to leave, and watched the explosion from afar as he raced towards his getaway car. Confident he had completed his mission and an impending coup would soon place him and like-minded co-conspirators in power, Stauffenberg made haste to return to Berlin.  But, in what is largely viewed as one of the greatest tragedies in history, things did not work out that way. Miraculously, Hitler survived the blast that killed four others, and the opposition’s poor planning, lack of support and hesitation at crucial moments played into the Führer’s hands. By midnight – just twelve hours later – Hitler had regained the upper hand and squashed the rebellion. Stauffenberg and three others were executed by firing squad in Berlin. In the coming weeks, an additional 140 people implicated in the plot were killed and more than 5,000 conspirators and political opponents were rounded-up.
 
“Had Stauffenberg been successful, the final phase of the war would certainly have gone differently. The fact remains that more people died between the July assassination attempt and the end of the war than in the four-and-a-half years prior to that. Few doubt that Hitler’s demise would not have seriously affected the German army’s ability to go on fighting, if not ended hostilities sooner and saved thousands of lives. Yet, Stauffenberg’s place in history as a hero of the German resistance has not been so easily established.
 
“In the initial decade after the end of the war, the German public largely viewed him as a traitor. His wife was denied a pension, and no memorials were erected to mark the bravery of those within Hitler’s own military establishment who risked their lives to set the country on a different course. In the 1960’s, as a younger generation of Germans confronted their parents over their country’s Nazi past, Stauffenberg was not necessarily rehabilitated into an honorable symbol of the German resistance. Some were suspicious of his motives, accusing him of acting more out of self-interest, and less out of benevolent concern for the plight of the Jews and other victims of Nazi war crimes…
 
“But as the 60th anniversary of the assassination attempt approached, a number of new films, documentaries and books enlivened the debate and once again drew attention to Stauffenberg and his band of subversives… According to Johannes Tuchel, Director of the German Resistance Memorial Center in Berlin, most Germans were – implicitly, at least – Hitler supporters… The German Resistance Memorial Center in Berlin features exhibitions on Stauffenberg, as well as others like the ‘White Rose’ student movement which sprung up in Munich. But Tuchel is careful not to exaggerate the size of the resistance, pointing out that Hitler’s opponents – those willing to take action – were always in the minority… ”

The somewhat misunderstood role of Adolf Hitler is explained in our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.”

Austria’s Right-Wing Party Intervenes in Libya and Syria

Der Spiegel Online reported on July 15:

“An emissary of the right-wing populist Austrian Freedom Party [FPÖ] is currently in Libya at the invitation of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. The relationship between the party and the dictator has a history… The FPÖ, one of several right-wing populist parties gaining in popularity across Europe, is viewed with distaste by many for its strident opposition to Austria’s Muslim immigrant population. The party is also deeply skeptical of the European Union and efforts to prop up the common currency… But it is also no secret that Strache’s party has long had close ties to the Gadhafi clan…

“In a conversation with SPIEGEL ONLINE, Strache insisted that ‘we are not interested in pushing ourselves into the limelight. We have contacts in this region and we are happy to be of help.’ But with his party neck and neck with Austria’s center-left Social Democrats at the top of opinion polls, evidence of the FPÖ’s ability to play a role on the international stage certainly wouldn’t hurt ahead of 2013 general elections.

“Furthermore, the party has something of a tradition of pushing for a role in mediating international conflicts, particularly in North Africa and the Middle East. In 2002, [former FPÖ leader Joerg] Haider made headlines by flying to Iraq for a controversial visit with dictator Saddam Hussein. In the same year, Haider founded the Austrian-Libyan Society… in the hopes that it could contribute to the Middle East peace process. He also pushed his way into negotiations surrounding the 2007 release of five Bulgarian nurses who had been arrested in Libya years earlier…

“The FPÖ’s mediation endeavors this year have not been limited to…Tripoli. With pro-democracy protests in Syria having turned bloody in recent months, Strache and other FPÖ leaders have become active there too. In May, a group of opposition leaders travelled to Vienna at Strache’s invitation.  Efforts at becoming involved in negotiations there are ongoing. ‘We are engaged in intensive discussions to see how we can be of use as mediators in Syria,’ Strache said.”

This is quite a remarkable revelation. A right-wing anti-Muslim Austrian party which was looked upon as destined to die after Joerg Haider’s death seems to exert quite some influence in unstable authoritarian Muslim countries such as Libya and Syria.

“Turkey Can Never Be an Equal Partner in the EU”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 20:

“The ongoing dispute over divided Cyprus may escalate problems between Turkey and the European Union after Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan threatened to freeze EU relations when the Greek Cypriots take on the rotating presidency in 2012. The move only serves to further disqualify Turkey’s plans to join the EU, German conservatives say…

“Turkey’s threats may seem hollow when it comes to the process of joining the EU. Negotiations have been stalled for some time, with no real movement in more than a year. The country formally began talks to join the EU in 2005, but key members have major reservations about accepting the Muslim-majority nation. Germany is among the countries skeptical of Turkey’s EU qualifications, and conservatives in the southern state of Bavaria were quick to accept Turkey’s threat, saying it showed the country was not ready for membership anyway.

“‘Those who refuse to hold talks with a member state are snubbing the entire EU,’ said Stefan Müller, a senior member of the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party to Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union. Erdogan has proven that ‘he doesn’t shy away from attempts at blackmail in the interest of political power,’ Müller told the daily Rheinische Post. He said that fact further disqualifies Turkey’s plans to join the bloc. ‘They can never be an equal partner in the EU,’ he said.”

For more information on Turkey’s future, please read our three-part series in our recent Q&As. https://www.eternalgod.org/qa/10394  https://www.eternalgod.org/qa/10415 https://www.eternalgod.org/qa/10437

Britain’s Media Scandal Widens and Widens…

The Washington Post reported on July 18:

“Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday faced a deepening political crisis over his relationships with tainted figures in Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, with the British leader cutting short an official visit to Africa in an attempt to staunch the escalating fallout of the phone hacking scandal at home…

“One day after the head of Scotland Yard resigned, one of his key deputies, the embattled John Yates, followed suit, with calls growing for a broader house cleaning at the 51,000-member police force. Another power player claimed by the scandal [is] Rebekah Brooks, a former top Murdoch executive who was arrested Sunday and released on bail after nine hours of questioning…

“On Monday, Ed Miliband, head of the opposition Labor Party, stopped short of directly calling for the prime minister to resign. But he insisted the questions swirling around Cameron had left him ‘unable to provide the leadership the country needs.’ He again called on Cameron — who was forced to call a special session of Parliament for Wednesday to address the scandal — to more fully explain his decision to fill the job of communication director at No. 10 Downing Street with Andy Coulson, the former editor of Murdoch’s now-shuttered News of the World. Coulson, who resigned in January as the scandal intensified, was arrested last week in connection with illicit news-gathering.

“In another development Monday, the Guardian newspaper reported that Sean Hoare, a former reporter for News Corp. papers who first alleged that Coulson was aware of phone hacking by his staff, had been found dead. Police said the death of the man identified by the paper as Hoare was ‘not thought to be suspicious,’ the Guardian said…”

In the light and context of Britain’s widening scandal, the allegation of the police that the death of the involved reporter is not suspicious, appears to be very suspicious.

On July 20, 2011, Der Spiegel wrote:

“‘The most humble day of my career.’ That was how media mogul Rupert Murdoch described his appearance before the British House of Commons’ media committee on Tuesday… The 80-year-old CEO of News Corp seemed confused and overwhelmed at times during the grueling hearing, which lasted around three hours, but refused to accept any responsibility for wrongdoing…

“The Financial Times Deutschland writes: ‘…the powerful media tycoon, who politicians had sought to woo for years, had to make a humiliating appearance on the politicians’ home turf. It was the politicians who were now dictating the rules to the man who had dictated the rules for decades… It would be wrong to believe that Britain made a big step forward in dealing with the scandal on Tuesday. In that respect, the country is still just at the beginning.’

“The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘… The sleaze is so widespread that even high-ranking police officers have had to resign. Even Prime Minister Cameron, who apparently was not always in full possession of his senses when it came to choosing his associates, is facing calls for his resignation’…

“The business daily Handelsblatt writes: ‘… News Corporation is the world’s second largest media group. But Murdoch’s life’s work can only survive if he goes.’”

For more information and an in-depth analysis of the biblical reasons for this mess, please view our latest StandingWatch program, “Britain’s Watergate Scandal…Why?”. Please also note the next article.

“Is Britain More Corrupt Than It Thinks?”

Reuters reported on July 20:

“Britons love to lecture the world about integrity and the rule of law, but the News of the World phone hacking scandal has laid bare a web of collusion between money, power, media and the police. Far from the innocent, upright democracy of its self-image, Britain is showing a seamy side that anti-corruption campaigners say is getting worse and may be politically explosive as society becomes more unequal due to the financial and economic crises… London offers a haven for oligarchs and despots, a place where foreign media magnates have bought access to and influence over the government.

“The scandal engulfing Rupert Murdoch’s media empire has already destroyed a newspaper, cost two top police officers their jobs, seen the arrest of powerful media figures and embarrassed the prime minister and political elite. But it points to a bigger problem in British society — overly cozy relationships among elites that are ethically dangerous, even when they do not involve outright criminality…

“When power elites in the Middle East looked for somewhere to send their money during the ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings this year, wealth managers told Reuters London was the prime beneficiary. Much may have been legitimately earned, some almost certainly not… John Bassett… a senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute… says that coming after the financial and economic crises the hacking scandal ‘has revitalized the narrative of a corrupt elite. The long-term result is likely to be a further erosion in the credibility of the British establishment, particularly the media and police, in the eyes of citizens.’”

Famine in Somalia

On July 20, BBC News wrote:

“The United Nations has declared a famine in two areas of southern Somalia as the region suffers the worst drought in more than half a century… It is the first time that the country has seen famine in 19 years… An estimated 10 million people have been affected in East Africa by the worst drought in more than half a century. More than 166,000 desperate Somalis are estimated to have fled their country to neighbouring Kenya or Ethiopia… Drought, conflict and poverty have now combined to produce the necessary conditions for famine. Those conditions include more than 30% of children being acutely malnourished, and four children out of every 10,000 dying daily.

“‘Across the country nearly half of the Somali population – 3.7 million people – are now in crisis, of whom an estimated 2.8 million people are in the south,’ said a statement by the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs for Somalia…

“In a separate development, Amnesty International says children in Somalia are being systematically recruited as child soldiers by militant groups such as al-Shabab.”

In an accompanying article, BBC News wrote on July 20:

“Most major aid agencies… only describe a crisis as a famine when the situation on the ground reaches level five on the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) system. This means: at least 20% of the population has access to fewer than 2,100 kilocalories of food a day; acute malnutrition in more than 30% of children; two deaths per 10,000 people, or four child deaths per 10,000 children every day.

“It is usually up to governments to declare a famine. But in the case of Somalia, the UN stepped in because of the lack of central government… The word famine is politically contentious, and governments also shy away from using it. Ireland, Russia and Ethiopia have at various times struggled to move away from their image as famine-ravaged countries…”

Earthquakes Make Rivers and Lakes Disappear or “Create” New Ones

Yahoo News reported on July 14:

“Following a series of moderate earthquakes that struck the country Tuesday, residents around the Guacalito River in Costa Rica discovered that the river had disappeared. Earthquake-report.com reported that sometime after the earthquakes, villagers living near the river, which is located near Armenia de Upala, discovered that the river was dry… An entire body of water disappears? Strange but true, and this isn’t the first time this odd event has happened…

“Most recently… an entire reservoir in Huntsbury, New Zealand, that was filled with 36 million liters of water disappeared following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake. The reservoir water disappeared after the earthquake struck Christchurch Feb. 22. A body of water disappearing is not unusual, nor is it unheard of for an earthquake to change the shape and form of bodies of water. There have also been numerous examples of seismic activity creating new bodies of water.

“In 1959, the largest earthquake to strike Montana — a 7.3 magnitude temblor — caused a landslide to dam the Madison River just below Hebgen Dam, thus creating a new body of water that became Hebgen Dam, or ‘Quake Lake.’ The historic New Madrid earthquakes in the central United States created a lake in northwestern Tennessee in 1812. Reelfoot Lake was formed during the Feb. 7, 1812, earthquake that was one of several to strike the region during the winter of 1811 and 1812. That earthquake, which is estimated to have been at least 7.0 in magnitude or higher, caused subsidence along the Reelfoot River, dropping a 13,000 acre area of land between 4 and 19 feet. This area filled with water to become Reelfoot Lake.”

The Bible prophesies that mighty earthquakes will have tremendous effects on the topography of our earth; compare, for just one of many examples, Revelation 16:18-21.

Britain’s Blagging and Bribery Scandal

Deutsche Welle reported on July 8:

“The former editor of the News of the World, and former aide to Prime Minister David Cameron, has been arrested in London over phone hacking allegations… Coulson has close links to Prime Minister David Cameron and was a key figure in last year’s Conservative election campaign. Coulson was forced to quit as Cameron’s communications chief in January after the phone hacking allegations resurfaced. Cameron has come under fire for hiring Coulson shortly after he resigned as News of the World editor in 2007… In a further twist, British police on Friday re-arrested the paper’s former royal editor Clive Goodman over allegations of corruption. Goodman was jailed for four months in 2007 for hacking into phone messages from the royal household…

“Cameron on Friday called for a new system of press regulation in the wake of the closure of the News of the World newspaper. He also promised a full inquiry into the phone-hacking scandal gripping the British media… Cameron is also friends with Rebekah Brooks, Coulson’s predecessor as editor of the popular Sunday paper. She is now chief executive of News International and a close confidante of Rupert Murdoch, the Australian-born media tycoon. Cameron said Friday that he would have accepted her resignation, had it been offered to him. Murdoch’s media empire spans the globe, and includes Fox Television and the Wall Street Journal in the United States, along with major broadcasting operations in Australia and Asia… [According to Deutsche Welle, Murdoch also owns News International which operates The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times.]

“On Thursday, News Corp announced that Sunday’s edition of the News of the World would be the last. It is the bestselling Sunday newspaper in the country, selling some 2.7 million copies a week, and has been published for 168 years… The News of the World has been at the center of phone-hacking claims for several years. The targets included the royal family, celebrities and politicians. But it was the allegations that journalists hacked into the cell phones of victims of crime, terror attacks and the relatives of British soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan that sparked a public outcry, alienating readers and advertisers.”

BBC wrote on July 11:

“The Sunday Times is alleged to have targeted the personal information of the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the time he was chancellor, a BBC investigation has found… The Browns also fear medical records relating to their son Fraser, whom the Sun revealed in 2006 had cystic fibrosis, may have been obtained…
 
“Blagging, or ‘knowingly or recklessly obtaining or disclosing personal data or information without the consent of the data controller’ has been illegal since 1998. A blagger alleged to be acting for the Sunday Times posed as Brown and obtained details of his Abbey National account in January 2000… The Abbey National said to Mr Brown’s lawyer it was a ‘well-orchestrated scheme of deception.’”

The London Evening Standard wrote on July 11:

“Personal details about the Queen and her closest aides were sold to the News of the World by corrupt royal protection officers…The information included phone numbers and tips about the movements and activities of the Queen, Prince Philip and staff in a serious breach of national security…

“Around half a dozen emails indicating payments totalling more than £100,000 by News of the World journalists to corrupt Met officers were found… Several police officers and a number of other current or former News of the World staff are expected to be arrested over the coming weeks over the bribery scandal.”

The UK press is filled with reports on the British scandal—which some have already described as the “British Watergate.” The German paper, Die Welt, wrote on July 11 that Britain’s Premier David Cameron is affected by the scandal and is quick to distance himself from it—while fighting for his political survival.

UK Government vs. Murdoch

The Associated Press reported on July 12:

“The cozy relationship that Rupert Murdoch long enjoyed with the British power structure came to an abrupt end Tuesday, just as he needed it to complete one of his biggest media buys ever. The billionaire… suddenly faces stiff government opposition to his bid for total control of a much more lucrative property: the satellite British Sky Broadcasting company. The news came in a stunning announcement from Prime Minister David Cameron’s office that the government will support a motion calling on Murdoch and his News Corp. to withdraw the $12 billion bid for BSkyB.

“Cameron’s turnabout means the Australian-born Murdoch, who held great influence in British politics no matter who ran the government, suddenly finds all three major political parties lined up against him. He’s even been asked to appear before lawmakers next week to answer questions about the conduct of News International, Murdoch’s UK company…”

Murdoch Withdraws Bid for BSkyB

The New York Times wrote on July 13:

“In a stunning reversal after days of building scandal surrounding its British newspaper operations, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation announced on Wednesday that it was withdrawing a $12 billion bid to take over the shares it does not already own in Britain’s main satellite television broadcaster. The withdrawal from the bid for complete control of British Sky Broadcasting, also known as BSkyB, represented the most severe damage inflicted so far on Mr. Murdoch’s corporate ambitions by a crisis which erupted only 10 days ago with reports that The News of the World tabloid ordered the hacking of the voice mail of Milly Dowler, a 13-year-old girl abducted and murdered in 2002. Since then, virtually every day has brought dizzying new disclosure and developments, culminating in News Corporation’s announcement on Wednesday…

“Only hours before the announcement, Prime Minister David Cameron had sought to distance himself from Mr. Murdoch and had urged him to drop the bid for BSkyB, reversing his previous support… The scandal has also convulsed the British politicians, press and police…[G]iven Mr. [Murdoch’s] erstwhile towering influence in British public life, the scandal has also cast unusually sharp light into a world of cozy relationships between political and corporate leaders and senior police officers.

“On Wednesday, Mr. Cameron offered details for the first time of a broad inquiry into those relationships to be led by a senior judge, Lord Justice Brian Leveson. Mr. Cameron told Parliament that it would have the power to summon witnesses to testify under oath. The announcement came as Mr. Cameron fought to recover the initiative in a scandal that has turned into potentially the most damaging crisis of his time in office, partly because of his own close relationship with senior figures in Mr. Murdoch’s British subsidiary…”

German Press Attacks British Democracy—“It’s a Farce”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 14:

“As the News of the World phone hacking scandal continues to unfold, there are indications that it extends beyond the press to the police and even the government. German papers on Thursday write that the situation reveals grave problems within Britain’s democratic system…

“Conservative daily Die Welt writes:

“‘There is more rotten in the state of Great Britain than is dreamt of in our philosophy. And more than just in the media, whose reputation has sunk to an all-time low through the revelations about the Sunday scandal paper News of the World. But this is about more than that. The complicity of some Scotland Yard officials with the surveillance methods of the Murdoch empire are also damaging trust in the country’s law enforcement… It’s a nation under shock. Too much institutional erosion was simply ignored…’

“Left-leaning daily Die Tageszeitung writes:

“‘The News of the World case has shown the British public that their democracy is a farce, with power-hungry politicians who bow to the most loathsome tabloids and money-grubbing police who hide the crimes of these papers. The investigations that Prime Minister Cameron has called for make sense only when they include all sides and lead to consequences. Most of the investigations to date … give no cause for optimism.’”

America’s Debt Ceiling Crisis

The Associated Press reported on July 11:

“Call it eliminating an unfair break, or removing an unjust loophole, or even ‘taking a balanced approach.’ Just don’t call it raising taxes. As they work toward a must-do deal with Republicans on paring trillions from the deficit in order to raise the nation’s debt limit, President Barack Obama and Democrats are saying almost anything to avoid the politically toxic pronouncement that they want to increase taxes. Republicans, for their part, are just as quick to declare elimination of the most rarefied corporate benefit a job-killing tax hike on the American people. It’s all about winning the public relations debate over the debt limit, and in turn, perhaps, gaining a more politically advantageous outcome in the resulting deal itself…

“Taxes are hardly the only issue going through the partisan spin cycle — and emerging virtually unrecognizable — as the days tick down to an Aug. 2 deadline to raise the federal government’s borrowing limit or face unprecedented default. Take Social Security. Obama is insisting he won’t agree to ‘slash’ benefits — a vague word the White House refuses to define, thus leaving room for benefits to be cut without ever saying it…”

What an interesting testimony on the duplicity of politics.

More Taxes?

The Wall Street Journal added on July 11:

“So the fondest Washington hopes for a grand debt-limit deal have broken down over taxes. House Speaker John Boehner said late Saturday that he couldn’t move ahead with a $4 trillion deal because President Obama was insisting on a $1 trillion tax increase, and the White House quickly denounced House Republicans…

“How dare Republicans not agree to break their campaign promises and raise taxes when the jobless rate is 9.2% and President Obama’s economic recovery is in jeopardy? We think Mr. Boehner is making the sensible choice. No one wants to reform the tax code more than we do, but passing a $1 trillion tax increase first on the promise of tax reform later is a political trap…

“Keep in mind that Mr. Obama has already signed the largest tax increase since 1993… Starting in 2013, the bill adds an additional 0.9% to the 2.9% Medicare tax for singles who earn more than $200,000 and couples making more than $250,000. For [the] first time, the bill also applies Medicare’s 2.9% payroll tax rate to investment income, including dividends, interest income and capital gains…  And don’t forget a new annual fee on health insurance providers starting in 2014 and estimated to raise $60 billion. This tax, like many others on this list, will be passed along to consumers in higher health-care costs…

“Mr. Obama is now pushing to reduce the payroll tax by two-percentage points for another year to boost the economy, but he’s already built in a big increase in that same payroll tax for 2013. So if a payroll tax cut creates jobs this year, why doesn’t a payroll tax increase destroy jobs after 2013?…

“Last November Republicans won the House and landslide gains in many states in large part because of the deep unpopularity of the stimulus and ObamaCare. Mr. Boehner has a mandate for spending cuts and repealing the Affordable Care Act. If Republicans instead agree to raise taxes in return for future spending cuts that may or may not happen, they will simply be the tax collectors for Mr. Obama’s much expanded entitlement society.”

It is curious that the Weekly Standard reminded its readership on July 11 that President Obama had said in August of 2009 that “raising taxes in a recession is a bad idea.” How many times have politicians promised us that there would be no new taxes, only to subsequently break those promises? Just think of President Bush Sr.’s famous claim, when running for office, “Read my lips, no new taxes,” which he subsequently violated, when he was in office. How can anyone have any trust and confidence in any one of our present or future political leaders? The answer is, we cannot, and we should not even try to do so. This is not God’s world, but it is ruled by Satan the devil, the god of this world and the prince of the power of the earth–the liar from the beginning, who has deceived the whole world. This includes every country. But God has given us a promise that we CAN rely on. He will soon send His Son Jesus Christ back to this earth, to replace all corrupt human leadership. He will restore the Kingdom of God on this earth and rule this world with fairness, equity and righteousness. Self-seeking incompetent politicians will finally become a fading memory of the distant past.

IMF Pressures USA

The Associated Press reported on July 10:

“The International Monetary Fund’s new chief foresees ‘real nasty consequences’ for the U.S. and global economies if the U.S. fails to raise its borrowing limit. Christine Lagarde, the first woman to head the global lending institution, said in an interview broadcast Sunday that it would cause interest rates to rise and stock markets to fall. That would threaten an important IMF goal, which is preserving stability in the world economy, she said. The U.S. borrowing limit is $14.3 trillion. Obama administration officials say the U.S. would begin to default without an agreement by Aug. 2…

“Republicans are insisting on deep spending cuts as a condition of voting in favor of raising the debt ceiling. Obama and congressional Democrats are insisting that more tax revenue should be part of the mix… The IMF has 187 member nations and lends money to countries with troubled finances.”

The IMF’s goal is to dominate the economic world. In the future, we will see more and more pressure exerted by the IMF on countries like the USA or Great Britain.

Cut Off Social Security Checks First?

The Associated Press reported on July 11:

“A government report Friday saying the economy created far fewer jobs than expected in June compounded fears that the U.S. economy was in even worse shape than previously thought. The unemployment rate rose to 9.2%. Weekend budget talks between Republicans and Democrats stalled, raising the possibility that the U.S. might reach its debt limit before a deal to raise that ceiling and make spending cuts is in place. That could mean the government might miss a debt payment for the first time in history, although it’s more likely other payments, like social security or military pay, would be skipped first.”

Reuters reported on July 12:

“President Barack Obama raised the stakes in the third straight day of budget talks Tuesday by warning that senior citizens and veterans may suffer first if the debt ceiling is not raised by Aug. 2… Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said a ‘real solution’ to the U.S. debt problem was unlikely while Obama was in office… Obama said in an interview with U.S. television network CBS that checks to recipients of the Social Security retirement program may not go out in early August if he and congressional leaders do not agree on a debt deal… Failure to seal a deal by Aug. 2 could… put the United States at risk of another recession…

“Obama’s warning that senior citizens… could suffer first if a deal is not reached could give lawmakers a nudge ahead of 2012 elections. Seniors punished Democrats last year for including Medicare cuts in their healthcare package and then turned on Republicans in a special New York election this year over a Republican plan to overhaul the healthcare program for the elderly. It also evoked memories of the debt limit crisis of 1996 when Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin warned he would not be able to send out Social Security pension checks the next month if the ceiling were not raised. The Republican-controlled House immediately voted to allow the government to issue more debt to make those Social Security payments.”

While Europe and the USA battle with their economies, Europe will recover and/or stay strong, while the USA will not. It would be a crying shame if, in light of all the wasteful spending of the US government, they would indeed begin cutting social security payments. For our international readers, Social Security benefits are not akin to discretionary Welfare, but they have been earned by Americans during their working life, and should be considered vested and irrevocable.

The question we need to ask is simply this: Whose fault is it that that the prospect of insolvency looms for the USA? Certainly not the fault of the senior citizens, but mainly of the former and current US governments which have overextended themselves by wasting borrowed money for at least unnecessary and at worst ungodly projects. And raising the debt ceiling and allowing for even more borrowing will only make matters worse.

Companies Flee California

CNN Money wrote on July 12:

“Buffeted by high taxes, strict regulations and uncertain state budgets, a growing number of California companies are seeking friendlier business environments outside of the Golden State. And governors around the country, smelling blood in the water, have stepped up their courtship of California companies… Companies are ‘disinvesting’ in California at a rate five times greater than just two years ago… This includes leaving altogether, establishing divisions elsewhere or opting not to set up shop in California…

“The state has been ranked by Chief Executive magazine as the worst place to do business for seven years. ‘California, once a business friendly state, continues to conduct a war on its own economy,’ the magazine wrote… The most popular places to go? Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Virginia and North Carolina… All rank in the Top 13 places to do business, according to Chief Executive.”

Having created the mess in the first place, it is high time for California’s government to wake up. So far, this has not happened—but perhaps with the handwriting on the wall, someone will have enough sense to DO something about it.

Italy Next?

The Local wrote on July 11:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Monday on the parliament in Rome to approve government spending cuts so as to end speculation Italy could become the next casualty of the eurozone debt crisis… ‘I have full confidence that the Italian government will pass exactly such a budget. I spoke yesterday (Sunday) by phone with Italian Prime Minister (Silvio Berlusconi) about precisely this topic… The euro itself is stable, but in some countries there is a debt problem,’ Merkel said.

“Berlusconi’s government has earmarked about €40 billion ($56.5 billion) in savings over the next four years to stabilise the country’s public finances… Rome has already pushed through spending cuts of €25 billion for 2011-12 and the latest package should reduce the budget deficit to just 0.2 percent of output by 2014 from 4.6 percent last year…

“Speculation has risen in recent days that Italy, which has the eurozone’s third-biggest economy, could follow Greece, Ireland and Portugal in needing outside help. Italy’s accumulated public debt is equal to about 120 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), one of the highest rates in the world. Borrowing costs on Italian debt reached record levels on Monday.”

Whatever the immediate outcome may be, it is very clear from the Bible that Italy will not forsake the euro, but rather, that it will be among the prophesied ten core nations or groups of nations leading Europe. In all likelihood, we can say the same about Spain (see one of our subsequent articles).

Italy in Turmoil—End of the Road for Berlusconi?

Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 12:

“Italy is used to crises — the government is rudderless, the economy is stagnant and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is mired in scandals. Now the country may become embroiled in the euro crisis, and its fate lies in the hands of its finance minister. Berlusconi, for his part, faces the ruins of his political career… After a black Friday and a black Monday the nation initially seemed to be facing a black Tuesday…

“This turmoil coincided with the auction on Tuesday of almost €7 billion worth of 12-month bills. If the sale had failed, or if it had even been undersubscribed, the markets may have panicked. But the whole issue found buyers, albeit at significantly higher interest rates. The gross yield on the bills rose to 3.67 percent from 2.15 percent at the previous auction in June. The Milan bourse breathed a sigh of relief and was in positive territory for several hours — but it is likely to remain a rollercoaster in the coming weeks…

“Economists interviewed on television on Tuesday kept on repeating the mantra that ‘Italy isn’t Greece or Portugal,’ and ‘Italy’s economic fundamentals aren’t that bad.’ And it’s true: no real estate bubble has collapsed in the country, banks aren’t battling enormous sums of toxic investments and new state debt is well below that of France, for example. Italy’s unemployment rate is at 9 percent, miles away from Spain’s 20 percent. The country — the third-largest economy in the EU — has a solid industry structure, mainly thanks to tens of thousands of small and mid-size businesses, which still earn billions each year through exports.

“On Tuesday, though, the country’s politicians managed to send a signal of determination — led by the opposition… All three opposition parties in parliament pledged not to stand in the way of the passage of a package of austerity measures within the next week. They won’t vote in favor, but they vowed not to slow down the bill with a slew of amendment requests. Furthermore, even the final passage of a budget this Sunday is now seen as a possibility.

“It is partly for this reason that the situation on the Milan stock exchange relaxed on Tuesday. Furthermore, the risk premium on Italian bonds dropped again and is now back to just three percentage points higher than the German benchmark. But the opposition also made it clear that they see this as Berlusconi’s last battle. Massimo D’Alema, head of the leftist Democratic Party, said that once the austerity package is passed, Berlusconi should ‘go immediately’ and make room for a new government aimed at improving the country’s financial health.

“And Berlusconi himself? Little had been heard from him for the last four days — until Tuesday afternoon. His coalition, he said, is ‘unified and determined.’ He said he welcomed the conciliatory gestures from the opposition — and said nothing at all about a possible resignation. But in the end, his future lies more in the hands of the financial markets than it does with the Italian parliament. Any additional signs of investor distrust could signal the end of the road for Berlusconi.”

Deutsche Welle added on July 12:

“… the Italian markets launched a surprising rally after nose-diving in early trading to end up almost breaking even. The Italian recovery surprised many, considering that the European Union finance ministers’ summit in Brussels was primarily focusing on the possibility of Italy becoming the latest eurozone country to need some form of financial assistance…

“At their summit in Brussels on Monday, Eurozone finance ministers had already indicated a willingness to expand the size and scope of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), as well as proposing complimentary measures like lowering interest rates or extending the maturity on loans for particularly hard-hit countries like Greece… Over the past fourteen months, the eurozone and sometimes other EU partners – with the help of the International Monetary Fund – have been forced to offer emergency loans packages to Greece, Ireland and Portugal…

“The EFSF currently has a theoretical lending capacity of 440 billion euros, and despite the pledge to bolster this, politicians have not offered any concrete increased figures. ‘If we stand together, no country will be at risk. We will do everything possible so that there is neither a risk of contagion nor a default by a member state of the eurozone,’ Luxembourg’s Finance Minister Luc Frieden said in Brussels. ‘It will be difficult to convince the markets, but we all agree that everything has to be done to ensure the stability of the eurozone.’”

Europe Demands Urgent Clampdown on Rating Agencies

Deutsche Welle reported on July 12:

“As EU finance ministers met in Brussels, concern was spreading that Italy could soon become the latest casualty of the debt crisis. Italian and other European stocks suffered heavy losses, especially in the banking sector, reflecting worries that Italy’s financial stability is at risk… Borrowing rates for Italy and Spain rose to the highest levels since the eurozone was created, and in the case of Spain, to the highest level since 1997. The euro fell sharply against the US dollar as investors lost faith in the single currency.

“But politicians were quick to quell rumors that Italy could become the latest country to seek an EU bailout. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble offered reassurance that the debt crisis had not spread further. ‘It is true that Italy has to take difficult budget decisions, but the Italian finance minister has made very convincing proposals and I’m sure they will make the right decisions,’ he said. ‘Italy is on the right track.’

“Schäuble was among several top European politicians to suggest that rating agencies such as Standard and Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch were partly responsible for fueling uncertainty over Italy’s financial status. He said that verification was needed ‘to check if there is abusive behavior’ by the agencies. ‘We need to examine the possibilities of smashing the rating agency oligopoly,’ Schäuble said. 

“In response, EU officials in Brussels called for an urgent clampdown on rating agencies, suggesting a ban on ratings for countries covered by international rescue packages such as Greece.” 

Europe’s road towards more and more autocratic and dictatorial measures should be carefully observed.

Europe Must Finally Lead

Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 13:

“The euro crisis appears to have entered a turbulent new phase, as the European Union hesitates on approving a second bailout for Greece and the risk of contagion seems ever larger. Italy has slid into speculators’ crosshairs this week amid fears that its debt mountain, equivalent to 120 percent of its gross domestic product, has grown too big to handle. Observers say the country — the third-largest economy in the euro zone — is too big to be bailed out. On top of that, the rating agency Moody’s has now downgraded Ireland’s debt to junk status, following its downgrade of Portugal last week.

“It seems that the time has come for decisive action on the part of Europe’s leaders. But precisely that is missing… The markets are reacting nervously to the uncertainty. The euro fell to its lowest level against the dollar in four months, and Italian stocks have taken a beating. The country’s main share index fell by as much as 4 percent on Tuesday before recovering… German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble… insisted that the EU was on the correct path to stemming the debt crisis…

“The conservative Die Welt writes:

“‘The fact that important European leaders have still not realized the full extent of the problem is having a catastrophic effect. Chancellor Angela Merkel, for example, temporarily neglected the euro crisis for weeks and focused on the so-called energy revolution, which could easily have waited another month or two. And now, when things are heating up because Italy is under pressure, Merkel has gone to Africa. As an economic powerhouse, Germany profits from the euro zone more than any other country. But Merkel is visiting Kenya, Angola and Nigeria rather than taking the lead in Europe and saving our domestic market. One can only hope that the powerful turbulence on the capital markets has woken up the chancellor and her colleagues. It will take more to get this crisis under control than a decision by euro-zone finance ministers to approve the new euro rescue package. … Instead of disappearing for their summer vacation, Europe’s leaders must now sit down and negotiate — and not only next weekend, but until they have found a convincing result and have regained their ability to take action.’”

When even a conservative and CDU-friendly paper such as Die Welt attacks Chancellor Angela Merkel for lacking in decisive leadership, we know that she is in deep political trouble.

Egypt’s Increasing Frustration

Reuters wrote on July 10:

“Anger has been rising against what many Egyptians see as the reluctance of the military council to deliver on the demands of protesters who ousted Hosni Mubarak in February… A speech by Prime Minister Essam Sharaf on Saturday that promised action but was thin on detail only stoked frustrations… Analysts said the army-appointed government needed to act quickly if it wanted to avoid a further escalation, even if some of the aspirations for change were unreasonably high.

“Some chanted for Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi to go. Tantawi, who now leads the military council in charge of Egypt, was Mubarak’s defense minister for two decades. The army has pledged to hand power to civilians soon and has scheduled parliamentary elections for September.

“The prime minister has come in for increasingly tough criticism. His appointment in March was initially welcomed as the former minister had joined protesters in Tahrir even when Mubarak was still in office. Now, activists say he has failed to act firmly as a mediator between protesters and the army.”

As we feared from the outset, Egypt is far off from becoming a democracy.

Dictatorial Iran

Newsmax reported on July 7:

“A U.S. State Department official expressed outrage and pressed Iran to reverse a court decision that gives an Iranian pastor an outrageous, and suicidal, choice: Reject his Christian faith, or die. The 32-year-old pastor, Yosef Nadarkhani, was arrested in October 2009 for apostasy because he objected to the teaching of Islam to Christian children at Iranian schools. He was sentenced to death by hanging late last year, a verdict that he appealed to Iran’s Supreme Court… Now, it appears that the Gilan court will ‘question the defendant again in order to determine whether he believes in Islam or not. If he is a Muslim, Yosef Nadarkhani must be released. If it is determined that he is a Christian, he may repent from his faith. Otherwise, if he insists on his beliefs, the death penalty must be carried out,’ CNSNews [states]…

“And the advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide said, that, despite reports that the death sentence had been reversed, ‘in reality the Supreme Court appears to have added a precondition requiring him to renounce his faith, or face execution’…  Nadarkhani… was born to Muslim parents and Islamic law dictates that a child of Muslim parents is considered to be a Muslim. Although apostasy is not an offense in the Iranian penal code, CNSNews reports that Iran’s constitution includes a clause demanding that, if a basis for a judicial ruling does not exist in the law, judges must turn to ‘reliable Islamic sources or a valid fatwa.’”

Fundamentalist Muslims all over the world demand the right to practice their religion, while they are persecuting those of other convictions, especially those who believe in the one and only true God—God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

USA vs. Syria

The New York Times wrote on July 12:

“The Obama administration, after weeks of urging Syria to carry out democratic reforms and end a brutal crackdown, has now turned decisively against President Bashar al-Assad, saying that he has lost legitimacy and that it has no interest in Mr. Assad keeping his grip on power. President Obama… stopped short of demanding that Mr. Assad step down. But administration officials said the president may take that step in coming days, as he did with Libya’s leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, much earlier in that country’s popular uprising.

“Mr. Obama’s comments, and even stronger ones by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday, showed that the administration has now concluded that Mr. Assad is no more willing or capable than Colonel Qaddafi of opening a dialogue with protesters or overseeing a political transformation. The turning point in the administration’s public posture came after angry crowds attacked and vandalized the United States Embassy in Damascus, and the residence of Ambassador Robert Ford, after his visit to Hama, the hub of the current protests and site of a bloody crackdown by Mr. Assad’s father in 1982.

“But administration officials said the shift has been weeks in the making, as Mr. Assad’s government has continued to harass and jail demonstrators, quash peaceful protests, and clamp down attempts to organize a political opposition. The crackdown has also begun to threaten regional stability with thousands of Syrian refugees fleeing across the northern border into Turkey…

“Administration officials said they had no choice in Libya: Colonel Qaddafi is notoriously unpredictable, and had threatened to send his troops house-to-house in Benghazi, killing his opponents. In Syria’s case, there is no military remedy. NATO nations have no interest in acting in Syria, and there is no chance of a United Nations Security Council resolution equivalent to the one that NATO is enforcing in Libya. Russia has made clear it would reject any resolution condemning Mr. Assad…

“Still, until recently some American officials argued they were better off with Mr. Assad in power than with a power vacuum that could threaten the stability of Lebanon and security of Israel, and might be filled by Iran…”

Arab World Disappointed in Obama’s USA

The National Journal wrote on July 14:

“When President Bush left office, 9 percent of Egyptians had a favorable attitude towards the United States. After Barack Obama was elected, that number jumped to 30 percent. But today, only 5 percent of Egyptians surveyed said they have a favorable opinion of the United States and its president. Similar figures in Morocco, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates illustrate that the initial optimism in the region has been eclipsed by a widespread sense of disappointment.”

Germany’s Weapon Industry

Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 12, 2011:

“Germany is in third place among the world’s biggest weapons suppliers, behind only the big guns of Russia and the United States and in front of France and Great Britain. Its arms are coveted around the world… The United States military is generally only allowed to order armaments from domestic suppliers. But even it makes an exception when it comes to Germany: For their tanks, they order the smooth-bore guns made by Rheinmetall because they are more precise than those developed in the US.

“The international arms industry doesn’t face crises; crises are its business. In 2010, global arms expenditures rose to $1.63 trillion (€1.14 trillion). This represents a growth of 56 percent over the last decade… Indeed, almost one-tenth of all the money generated by global weapons exports ends up in the pockets of the German defense industry.

“But what is it about the German arms industry that has made it so successful?… Like most other German arms companies, Rheinmetall has adapted its business to fit changing times. A decade ago, the companies primarily supplied Germany’s military, the Bundeswehr. But these days, roughly 70 percent of their products are sold to foreign clients.

“German arms companies enjoy a reputation for delivering high-tech weapons of the highest quality. For example, the ThyssenKrupp submarines outfitted with fuel cells are considered the best in the world because they are practically undetectable… The companies are also profiting from how military conflicts have changed… These days, fighting is conducted in many places at the same time and often by small units. This type of fighting calls for high-tech solutions, including drones, satellites, radars and electronic gadgetry. Much of this is based on technology in fields where Germany’s companies are among the world’s leaders…

“Since 2000, Saudi Arabia has numbered among Germany’s top 20 clients for… missile parts, machine guns, munitions and artillery shells… When the UN Security Council voted on whether to establish a no-fly zone in Libya, Germany abstained. The stated reason for the abstention was the desire to not have German soldiers participate in the war. Despite this desire, however, Germany is still playing a role in the fighting, with ‘Made in Germany’ written on many of the weapons used — by both sides… NATO troops also rely on German technology in the form of the ‘Eurofighters’… the fact that three parties involved in the fighting are all using weapons made in Germany shows the fundamental problem of these kinds of arms export policies…”

Sadly, Germany’s good qualities of organization, production of high-quality items and its highly sophisticated technology, are so often misused in this evil world for ungodly and deplorable purposes. This can also be seen in a subsequent article on German laws regarding the Holocaust, showing Germany’s misguided zeal.

More German Weapons Deals—With Angola

Deutsche Welle reported on July 14:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced on Wednesday that Germany was prepared to sell six to eight patrol boats to Angola as part of an international cooperation deal… In return, the chancellor suggested that the patrol boats could protect Angola’s borders, the security of which is essential for regional stability… But Merkel’s offer of military equipment was met with widespread condemnation in Berlin…

“In the past, Angola has courted both China and western nations as they competed for contracts and access to the country’s oil resource. According to the Angolan investment agency, trade between Germany and Angola currently stands at around 400 million euros ($566 million). As the first German leader to visit Angola, however, Merkel was keen to boost economic ties further.”

German Court Upholds Holocaust Denial Verdict Against UK Bishop

The Local wrote on July 11:

“A German appeals court on Monday upheld renegade British bishop Richard Williamson’s conviction for Holocaust denial, but reduced the fine ordered by a lower court to €6,500 ($9,262). Williamson, 71, who was not in court, had appealed his conviction by a court in Regensburg, southern Germany, for denying key facts about the Holocaust in an interview he gave to Swedish television in Regensburg in 2008…

“Lawyers for London-based Williamson did not deny the statements made by the bishop, a member of the breakaway ultra-conservative Catholic fraternity the Saint Pius X Society, but stressed that in Sweden such opinions could be freely voiced. In Germany it is an offence to deny that the Nazis murdered six million Jews during World War II. Williamson told Swedish television that ‘200,000 to 300,000 Jews perished in Nazi concentration camps’ and disputed the existence of the gas chambers. In April 2010, Williamson, who now lives in London, was fined €10,000 by the lower court, reduced from an earlier fine of €12,000 he had refused to pay, for inciting racial hatred.”

The controversial German law of penalizing those who execute their right to free speech and falsely deny aspects of the Holocaust is bound to backfire one of these days.

Denmark on Collision Course with Germany and Europe

Der Spiegel Online wrote on July 12:

“…the right-wing populist Danish party’s beliefs are currently damaging the country’s relationship with the European Union– and neighboring Germany in particular. The anti-immigration party managed to get the reintroduction of border controls passed by demanding the new policy in exchange for its support for the government’s 2020 budget reform plan. Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen’s center-right government, which does not have the majority, would likely collapse without DF’s support.

“But many politicians within the EU argue that the new customs checkpoints, erected last week along the country’s borders with Germany and Sweden, are a violation of the Schengen Agreement, which established border-free travel in Europe in 1985.

“… [DF] party criticism of Berlin and Brussels has taken on an unusually aggressive tone. ‘All of the ideological guns are pointed at us,’ [party co-founder and leader Pia] Kjaersgaard cursed last week. ‘Germany is playing the role of bad cop — it has mustered all the ministers and ambassadors it can find in the attack on Denmark’… Her parliamentary group colleague and pastor Jesper Langballe agreed. Germany is a ‘neurotic nation’ and is constantly pursued by the shadows of its past, he said last week. In a ‘desperate attempt to repress the Nazi era,’ Berlin is using the European Union as a ‘supranational monster’ attempting to ‘play fireman against the flames of nationalism,’ he added.”

It is only a matter of time, it seems, when Denmark will leave—or is asked to leave—the EU.

“Farewell to Europe’s Last Emperor”

Zenit wrote on July 11:

“Benedict XVI sent his condolences to the family of Otto von Habsburg, the last crown prince of Austria, Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia… Also known as Archduke Otto of Austria, Otto was the eldest son of Blessed Charles I of Austria, the last emperor of Austria-Hungary…

“Benedict XVI stated in his message, sent Sunday to Karl von Habsburg, that Otto had ‘been a witness to the changing face of Europe. Trusting in God and aware of a significant heritage,’ the Pope added, Otto had ‘been a committed European tirelessly working for freedom, for the unity of peoples and for a just order in this continent. With deepest sympathy have I learned about the passing of your father, His Royal Highness Archduke Otto of Austria,’ the Pontiff wrote…

“The funeral for Archduke Otto of Austria is scheduled for July 16 in Vienna, Austria. The Pope named Cardinal Christoph Schönborn as [the] delegate to the funeral. … Otto’s father, Charles I, died in 1922, leaving his eldest son as pretender to the imperial throne. In 2004, Pope John Paul II beatified his father…

“During World War II, Otto was a fearless critic of the Nazi party in Germany. Upon annexing Austria, Adolf Hitler had not only ordered the death of Otto von Habsburg, but also revoked his citizenship, as well as the citizenship of the imperial royal family. Otto, who was left stateless, spent the better part of World War II in the United States, and he wouldn’t regain his citizenship until 1965. In the 1960s, [he renounced] his claim to the Austrian throne… Otto was an organizer of the Pan-European Picnic at the Hungary-Austria border on Aug. 19, 1989, which allowed some 700 East Germans to escape to the West, and is considered a turning point in the collapse of the Iron Curtain that divided Europe. Otto’s wife, Regina, died last year. He is survived by a brother, Felix, seven children, 22 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.”

Bild On Line reported on July 11:

“Today, Munich said farewell to Otto von Habsburg (98)—son of the last emperor of Austria and king of Hungary. ‘Thank you for what you did for your family, for this country, for Europe and also for the church,’ said Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich… the Cardinal honored [von Habsburg] as a great European and a convicted Christian… The memorial service was attended by Habsburg’s seven children [as well as representatives of the German parliament]. The congregation sang [Franz Josef] Haydn’s Kaiserlied.”

The website, allmusic.com, published the following comments regarding the “Kaiserlied,” which, by the way, is being sung today in many U.S,. churches under the title, “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken,” with the English words written by John Newton:

“…when the French Revolution effectively destroyed the Bourbon dynasty by beheading its king and queen, [it] created the first modern nation. And it wasn’t long before a national anthem followed: The bloodthirsty ‘La Marseilles’ became the marching song for the Grande armee as it conquered continental Europe. Seeing the effect ‘La Marseilles’ had on the population in general and the army in particular, the British responded with their ‘God Save the King,’ a drinking song pressed into service for the patriotic cause.

“Austria was luckier in its choice of [a] national anthem. In early 1797, Franz Joseph, Count Saurau, commissioned Franz Josef Haydn, considered the greatest living Austrian composer, to write a hymn for the birthday of the Austrian Emperor Franz II. Based on a Croatian folk tune ‘Zalostna Zarucnice’ (The Sad Bride), Haydn quickly wrote the tune to the words ‘Gott Erhalte Franz den Kaiser’ (‘God Save Franz the Emperor’) and the piece proved an immediate and lasting success. The tune is instantly memorable with deeply moving harmonies and a simple and effective rhythm. Soon, the Kaiserlied appeared on all manner of arrangements for every conceivable assortment of instruments and voices… The hymn was later adapted by the German poet… Hoffmann von Fallersleben for his Deutschlandlied…”

Europe’s and Germany’s love for royals is interesting in light of the fact that the Bible predicts that ten European “kings” will come to power in these last days. Even though the reference to “kings” could just mean, “rulers” or “autocratic rulers,” it could also refer to literal kings or emperors.

Most Americans Support Gay Marriage

USA Today wrote on July 11:

“…now that the gay marriage legalization trend is becoming a fact of life in several states, millions of Americans, like the New York state senators who changed their vote to okay the law, have changed their minds on the issue.

“A Gallup Poll this summer found that for the first time most Americans (53%) support gay marriage. That’s up from 42% in 2004 when Massachusetts first legalized the shift. And somewhere in that shifting statistic is Jeff Angelo of Ames, Iowa — a straight, Republican, married-with-three-kids Christian mid-westerner who changed his mind.

“In 2006 when Angelo was in the state legislature, he led a push for a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage. It failed. In the years since, Angelo says, ‘I came to see gay couples as outstanding friends, citizens and neighbors. They’re no threat to community or marriage in this country.’ In June, Angelo founded Iowa Republicans for Freedom to rally social and political conservatives to support gay marriage. Says Angelo: ‘The GOP stands for limited government. It should not be telling people who they cannot marry.’”

While a majority of Americans seem to support gay marriages, politicians compromise their own convictions to suddenly support them as well. Our Q&A in this Update shows what God thinks of such kind of compromise.

Why Not to Serve on a Jury

There are of course many BIBLICAL reasons why a true Christian ought not to serve on a jury. Here is just another example which could be added to the list:

Mail On Line wrote on July 12:

“A juror in the Casey Anthony trial has told how she received death threats and has been unable to work since she was cleared of murder. The woman, known only as juror number 12,  left her job and went into hiding fearing co-workers would ‘want her head on a platter’. Her husband said before leaving she told him: ‘I’d rather go to jail than sit on a jury like this again.’…

“The sensational trial of Casey Anthony sparked outrage across the U.S. when she was acquitted of murdering her two-year-old daughter Caylee. She had been accused of drugging her young daughter, suffocating her and dumping her body in overgrown woodland…

“A jury of seven woman and five men took ten hours to clear Anthony of charges of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child. She smiled as she was given the verdict at Orange County Courtroom in Orlando, Florida after one of the most controversial verdicts in recent history.

“Furious spectators compared the verdict to that in the OJ Simpson case, however some jurors have publicly defended the decision. One… said there was not evidence to convict the 25-year-old mother. She said: ‘I did not say she was innocent, I just said there was not enough evidence. If you cannot prove what the crime was, you cannot determine what the punishment should be’… Another… said the jury only saw evidence that Anthony was a good mother… ‘The first number of witnesses were Casey’s [friends] and every time that they said they saw Casey with Caylee, it was a loving relationship and no one provided evidence to the contrary.’”

Famine and Disease Epidemics

The Telegraph wrote on July 11:

“The worst drought in over half a century has hit parts of East Africa affecting more than 10 million people. Thousands of families have travelled for days across scorched scrubland from Somalia to Kenya, including barefoot children with no food or water after their crops and livestock were destroyed by drought. More than 10 million people have been affected across the Horn of Africa. Acute malnutrition has reached 37% in some parts of north east Kenya and child refugees from Somalia are dying of causes related to malnutrition either during the journey or very shortly after arrival at aid camps.”

Jesus Christ prophesied that in these last days, we will hear more and more of worldwide famine and disease epidemics.

Down on the Fourth of July: the United States of Gloom

The Telegraph wrote on July 4:

“Across America today, people will gather for barbecues in their backyards, parades through their towns and firework displays lighting up the night sky. They’ll be celebrating Independence Day – the birthday of the United States and the 235th anniversary of shaking off the oppressive yoke of British rule. On this day in 1776 a group of 13 colonies broke away to found a new nation free to govern itself as it saw fit, pledging that each citizen would have the [sic] unalienable right to ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’. A nation, as Americans are apt to declare without equivocation, which became the greatest on the face of the earth.

“That’s the good news. On the flip side, however, a country whose hallmark has always been a sense of irrepressible optimism is in the grip of unprecedented uncertainty and self-doubt. With the United States mired in three foreign wars, beaten down by an economy that shows few signs of emerging from deep recession and deeply disillusioned with President Barack Obama, his Republican challengers and Congress, the mood is dark. The last comparable Fourth of July was probably in 1980, when there was a recession, skyrocketing petrol prices and an Iranian hostage crisis, with 53 Americans being held in Tehran.

“Frank Luntz, perhaps America’s pre-eminent pollster, argues that his countrymen are much more downbeat now than in 1980… Remarkably, many Americans think things will only get worse and the good times will never return… But Americans do not just blame Obama; and the national malaise is to do with far more than one president. ‘Every institution in America has gone through a collapse,’ says Luntz. ‘The Church is not what it was, thanks to all those religious scandals, the media is much less trusted today than it was 20 or 30 years ago. Big business does not have credibility.”

CNN Money wrote on July 6:

“Almost no one is satisfied with the current state of the U.S. economy. But economists say the outlook is pretty bleak too. Sluggish economic growth will continue into 2012, if not beyond, with only modest hiring and high unemployment… Expectations started off strong in 2011… but momentum waned in the spring after the Japanese earthquake shook the world economy and oil prices rose precipitously. Since then, [some economists raise] the risk of a new recession…”

The pessimistic mood in the USA is in fact quite realistic. The Holy Scriptures have prophesied that in these end times, the great nation of America—descendant of biblical Manasseh—will fall.

How Not to Improve Our Economy

The Weekly Standard wrote on July 3:

“When the Obama administration releases a report on the Friday before a long weekend, it’s clearly not trying to draw attention to the report’s contents. Sure enough, the ‘Seventh Quarterly Report’ on the economic impact of the ‘stimulus,’ released on Friday, July 1, provides further evidence that President Obama’s economic ‘stimulus’ did very little, if anything, to stimulate the economy, and a whole lot to stimulate the debt. The report was written by the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors, a group of three economists who were all handpicked by Obama, and it… [shows that] the ‘stimulus’ has added or saved just under 2.4 million jobs — whether private or public — at a cost (to date) of $666 billion.

“That’s a cost to taxpayers of $278,000 per job. In other words, the government could simply have cut a $100,000 check to everyone whose employment was allegedly made possible by the ‘stimulus,’ and taxpayers would have come out $427 billion ahead. Furthermore, the council reports that, as of two quarters ago, the ‘stimulus’ had added or saved just under 2.7 million jobs — or 288,000 more than it has now.  In other words, over the past six months, the economy would have added or saved more jobs without the ‘stimulus’ than it has with it. In comparison to how things would otherwise have been, the ‘stimulus’ has been working in reverse over the past six months, causing the economy to shed jobs.

“… it’s quite possible that by borrowing an amount greater than the regular defense budget or the annual cost of Medicare, and then spending it mostly on Democratic constituencies rather than in a manner genuinely designed to stimulate the economy, Obama’s ‘stimulus’ has actually undermined the economy’s recovery — while leaving us (thus far) $666 billion deeper in debt. The actual employment numbers from the administration’s own Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the unemployment rate was 7.3 percent when the ‘stimulus’ was being debated. It has since risen to 9.1 percent. Meanwhile, the national debt at the end of 2008, when Obama was poised to take office, was $9.986 trillion. It’s now $14.467 trillion—and counting.”

“Obama Lets China Guzzle Canada’s Oil”

Newsmax reported on July 2:

“The Obama administration is foot-dragging on approving a pipeline to deliver abundant Canadian oil to the United States at the same time the Chinese are investing in a pipeline that could send that oil to China… The Canadian province of Alberta has the world’s third-largest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, and more than Russia or Iran. Daily production from oil sands is expected to rise from 1.5 million barrels today to 3.7 million in 2025.

“Delivering the oil will mean building two pipelines, one south to the refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast and the other west toward the Pacific, where it can be exported to China. If the United States doesn’t approve its pipeline promptly due to environmental concerns, ‘Canada might increasingly look to China, thinking America doesn’t want a big stake in what environmentalists call “dirty oil,” which they say increases greenhouse gas emissions,’ according to a report from The Associated Press.

“Sinopec, a Chinese-controlled company, has invested $5.5 billion in the planned pipeline to the Pacific coast. Sinopec has also paid $4.6 billion for a stake in Syncrude, Canada’s largest oil-sands project… Environmentalist groups have urged Obama to reject the pipeline project. They assert that extracting oil from oil sands requires huge amounts of energy and water, increases emissions and threatens rivers and forests. But Michael A. Levi, senior fellow for energy and the environment at the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, maintains that environmentalists are exaggerating the dangers of oil sand extraction.”

Canada is a descendant of the biblical Ephraim—one of the two sons of Joseph. It was prophesied that Ephraim would become a company or commonwealth of nations. Great Britain, as well as English-speaking Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other English-speaking nations, are descendants of Ephraim. The next article shows the still existing relationship between the descendants of Ephraim—especially of English-speaking Canada and England.

Prince William and Kate Visit Canada

The Associated Press reported on July 4:

“Prince William was preparing to put his military helicopter training to the test Monday with his first attempt at a water landing before crowds in Canada, where he and his wife, Kate, have been on their first official overseas trip since their wedding… Canada is the only country that trains its Sea King helicopter pilots to do a controlled landing on water should there be an emergency. The Sea King, which William flies back in the U.K, has the ability to land on water because of its amphibious hull…

“The Quebec visit hit a nerve among French-speaking separatists. Prince William and Kate had a private lunch at the Citadelle, a fortified residence where the British flag was raised at the end of the pivotal 1759 Battle of Quebec, when British forces defeated the French to seal the conquest of New France… The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as they are officially known, encountered small but vocal protests for the second straight day during their visit to predominantly French-speaking Quebec, following protests in Montreal…

“The jeers contrasted with the start of the royal couple’s Canadian trip in the largely English-speaking capital, Ottawa, where they were cheered by tens of thousands of people on Friday’s Canada Day holiday. Quebec separatists are angry that Canada still has ties to the monarchy. Queen Elizabeth II is still the country’s head of state… Support for the separatists among Quebeckers has been on the decline in recent years as the 80-percent French-speaking province has enjoyed plenty of autonomy even without quitting Canada.”

Note that Queen Elizabeth II is still the head of Canada.

Iran Funnels New Weapons to Iraq and Afghanistan

The Wall Street Journal wrote on July 2:

“Iran’s elite military unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has transferred lethal new munitions to its allies in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent months… In June, 15 U.S. servicemen died in Iraq, the highest monthly casualty figure there in more than two years. The U.S. has attributed all the attacks to Shiite militias it says are trained by the Revolutionary Guards, rather than al Qaeda or other Sunni groups that were the most lethal forces inside Iraq a few years ago.

“In Afghanistan, the Pentagon has in recent months traced to Iran the Taliban’s acquisition of rockets that give its fighters roughly double the range to attack [the] North Atlantic Treaty Organization and U.S. targets. U.S. officials said the rockets’ markings, and the location of their discovery, give them a ‘high degree’ of confidence that they came from the Revolutionary Guard’s overseas unit, the Qods Force.

“U.S. defense officials are also increasingly concerned that Iran’s stepped-up military activities in the Persian Gulf could inadvertently trigger a clash. A number of near misses involving Iranian and allied ships and planes in those waters in recent months have caused Navy officials to call for improved communication in the Gulf… U.S. and European officials also say Iran has grown increasingly aggressive in trying to influence the political rebellions across the Middle East and North Africa. Tehran is alleged to have dispatched military advisers to Syria to help President Bashar al-Assad put down a popular uprising.”

Iran would like to emerge as the new leader of major countries in the Middle East, but as the next article shows, this appears presently to be unlikely to happen.

The New “Cold War” Between Iran and Saudi-Arabia

Deutsche Welle wrote on July 2:

“Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former Saudi intelligence chief, has warned that if Iran obtained nuclear weapons, Saudi Arabia would too. Analysts say the two are already engaged in a ‘cold war’ in various parts of the world… Iran and Saudi Arabia are historical rivals who both see themselves as the most legitimate natural leaders of the Muslim world. Iran is a majority Shia state that subscribes to an [sic] politicized Islamist ideology, while Saudi Arabia is a predominantly Sunni monarchy…

“Saudi Arabia fears that Iran will take advantage of the democracy movements that have toppled a series of dictatorships in the region to strengthen its influence in those countries. Iran has positioned itself as an ally to these protest movements, and there are concerns within the Saudi government that the country’s Shia minority would even answer a call to arms from Iran… As far as some analysts are concerned, the current situation amounts to a serious conflict.

“‘Saudi Arabia and Iran are now engaged in a regional cold war that is spreading out into the rest of the world,’ said Theodore Karasik, director of research and development at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis (INEGMA). ‘It’s a cold war where Saudi Arabia and Iran are using proxies to fight against each other and creating a sectarian Sunni–Shia divide.’

“The flashpoints have already been identified. Saudi Arabia recently invited Morocco and Jordan, both Sunni monarchies, to join the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a group made up of Sunni autocratic states. This was seen as an attempt to create a defensive alliance against Iran. By the same token, Saudi Arabia sent troops to Bahrain earlier this year to help quell protests led by Shia Muslims.

“But this proxy conflict extends to more unexpected places. Saudi Arabia and Iran are competing in Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh, said Karasik. They are rivals in West Africa, especially in Nigeria, and in Latin America the two nations compete when it comes to building mosques and distributing sectarian literature…

“For analyst Steinberg, the significance of Faisal’s speech is not so much the threat of a nuclear arms race. ‘I think the point is less that Saudi Arabia is really planning to make nuclear weapons – it’s about impressing on the US how urgent it is to react to Iran’s nuclear program,’ he said.”

Because of the hostilities between Sunnites and Shiites, it appears presently unlikely that Sunnite countries will accept the Shia state Iran as their leader. On the other hand, stranger things have happened, and current Shia minorities might emerge in some countries as majority powers. In addition, as we dicussed in our recent Q&A on Iran, at least some modern Iranians will participate, perhaps as mercenaries, in military actions by some Middle Eastern countries in collaboration with the modern Babylonian system in Europe. These actions and attacks will be directed against the state of Israel. Subsequently, Iran, which is presently supported by Russia, will again become a strong ally of Russia and fight together with Russia against modern Babylon.

Waiting for the “Imam Al-Mehdi”

On July 2, emirates247.com stated the following:

“A Saudi man mounted a prayers platform at the Grand Mosque in Islam’s holiest shrine in the Gulf kingdom and told thousands of worshippers that he was a prophet and their saviour before he was seized by police…

“It was the latest in a series of incidents involving persons claiming to be Al-Mehdi Al-Montathar (the Chosen Imam Al-Mehdi) at Islamic holy sites in Makkah over the past few months. All of them had been arrested and medically examined. Muslims believe Imam Al-Mehdi, dubbed ‘the ultimate saviour of mankind’ will eventually reappear as a great reformer who will destroy the beliefs of injustice and ignorance and fill this earth with fairness after it has been filled with injustice and oppression.”

In future Q&As, we will be addressing the role of Saudi Arabia in prophecy and the Muslim expectation of a coming Savior or “Mahdi.”

Gadhafi Threatens to Attack Europe “Like Locusts, Like Bees”

The Associated Press reported on July 1:

“A defiant Moammar Gadhafi threatened Friday to carry out attacks in Europe against ‘homes, offices, families,’ unless NATO halts its campaign of airstrikes against his regime in Libya. The Libyan leader… delivered the warning in a telephone message played to thousands of supporters gathered in the main square of the capital Tripoli. It was one of the largest pro-government rallies in recent months, signaling that Gadhafi can still muster significant support…

“‘We can decide to treat you in a similar way,’ he said of the Europeans. ‘If we decide to, we are able to move to Europe like locusts, like bees’…

“In the past, Gadhafi supported various militant groups, including the IRA and several Palestinian factions, while Libyan agents were blamed for attacks in Europe, including a Berlin disco bombing in 1986 and the downing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people, mostly Americans. Libya later acknowledged responsibility for Lockerbie…

“A U.S. State Department spokesman… said the U.S. would take Gadhafi’s threat of attacks seriously, as his regime carried out such actions in the past. Toner said he did not know if there was intelligence to indicate Gadhafi’s regime would be able to carry out such attacks.”

Gadhafi’s choice of words for military action and weaponry, such as “locusts” and “bees,” is quite interesting; compare the biblical language for “locusts” in Revelation 9:3, 7; Isaiah 33:3-4; and for “bees” in Deuteronomy 1:41-44; Psalm 118:10-14; and Isaiah 7:18-20.

African Union Rejects Arrest Warrant Against Gadhafi

Sky News wrote on July 2:

“The African Union has called on member states to disregard the arrest warrant issued against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi by the International Criminal Court. The AU says the ICC’s move ‘seriously complicates efforts to find a solution to Libya’s crisis.’[ The African body recommended member nations do not honour the warrant if Col Gaddafi visits their country. If members apply the AU’s decision, it will weaken the warrant as it will mean the dictator will be able to travel freely on the continent.”

NATO Will Not (Cannot) Intervene in Syria…

The EUObserver wrote on June 30:

“Nato head Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said there will be no military intervention in Syria despite similar levels of government-sponsored violence as in Libya… Perception that Nato is in the business of regime change in Libya rather than protecting civilians, as mandated by UNSC 1973, is the main reason for opposition to any UN move on Syria in key swing UNSC voters – Brazil, India and South America.”

NATO will not intervene in Syria, because it cannot obtain the necessary votes within the UN Security Council (presently led for another three weeks by German Defense Minister Guido Westerwelle). But the time will come when another emerging mighty power will act, with or without NATO or UN approval.

Denmark in Violation of EU Law?

The Local wrote on July 1:

“German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger has sharply criticised Denmark’s decision to reintroduce border controls and demanded EU officials take action against the Scandinavian country. ‘I expect the European Commission as guardian of (EU) treaties to probe the compatibility of the Danish decision with European law,’ she [said]…

“Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said Copenhagen’s move to reimpose customs checks on border crossings with Germany and Sweden was a ‘bad day for Europe’ and in clear violation of its EU treaty obligations.

“Denmark’s minority government, prodded by the far-right populist DVP party, on Friday announced it would start to make random checks starting next week ostensibly to stem the flow of criminals from eastern Europe. But the EU and the country’s neighbours have argued they will impinge on the freedom of movement within the visa-free Schengen area.”

It is foreseeable that Scandinavian countries such as Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland will not become a part of the eurozone and the final unification of core European nations, and neither will Great Britain.

Germany on Top of the World

The Wall Street Journal wrote on June 27:

“Germany is sitting on top of the world… The country has come roaring out of the global financial crisis, boasting one of the strongest economies in the West and seemingly poised for years of rising exports ahead. What’s more, the better it does, the more the world expects it to do. Europe and the U.S. want Germany to take charge on cleaning up Europe’s debt crisis and do more for big causes—like supporting the Arab revolutions and the sputtering global economic recovery…

“Unlike many other Western countries, Germany has spent years living within its means and building up a deep trade surplus. Now it’s reluctant to bail out nations that weren’t as prudent. And it doesn’t want to get involved in foreign entanglements like Libya. All of which leads to a question with big implications for the global economy and political order: What is Germany’s place in the world?…

“NATO allies are worried by the revival of a pacifist stance under German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle. German pacifism after World War II was long tolerated, even welcomed, in a Europe that had suffered from German militarism. But since the 1990s, Germany was supposed to become a ‘normal’ country again, one that took part in multilateral interventions in war-torn places such as Kosovo and Afghanistan.

“When the UN Security Council voted for military intervention in Libya, Germany abstained, breaking with its NATO allies. Germany even withdrew its ships from NATO naval patrols in the Mediterranean… Many German lawmakers are uncomfortable with Mr. Westerwelle’s policy, and Ms. Merkel has made efforts to repair relations within NATO. But opinion polls showed ordinary Germans want just as little to do with the Libya conflict as their foreign minister.”

But things will gradually change, as the Bible clearly shows. We can already see signs right now. Der Spiegel reported on July 2, that this summer Germany will sell 200 military “Leopard” battle tanks to Saudi Arabia for billions of euros. The magazine also stressed that with 11 % of global weapon trade, Germany is the world’s third-biggest weapons exporter, following America (30%) and Russia (23%); and that about 80,000 people work for the German weapon industry.

At the same time, the Local and Der Tagesspiegel argued on July 5 that Germany was “once a strong yet evil country. Then it was weak but good. Today it’s both strong and good.” They also claimed that “The United States has become weaker, but is still fairly ruthless. Germany is stronger, but still extremely prone to high-minded moralizing – even while considering the sale of hundreds of tanks to Saudi Arabia. Can this new balance hold?”

Prophecy shows that it won’t.

Note, in this context, The Local’s report from July 6:

“Germany, France and Poland have joined forces to form a joint European combat group that will be ready to deploy in crisis zones from 2013. The three European Union military powers signed an agreement in Brussels to put together a unit of 1,700 soldiers that will take part in the rotation of the EU’s rapid reaction force, known as battlegroups. The three nations, bound by a long history of alliances, rivalry and wars, have discussed the possibility of creating the so-called Weimar Combat Group since 2006… The technical agreement between the high-ranking military officers from Germany, France and Poland comes four days after Poland took over the EU’s rotating presidency… Paris, Berlin and Warsaw created the Weimar Triangle in 1992 to encourage cooperation between the three nations after the Cold War.”

Greece Faces ‘Massive’ Loss of Sovereignty

The EUObserver wrote on July 4:

“Eurozone finance ministers over the weekend staved off looming bankruptcy in Greece by agreeing to release the next tranche of aid to the country, but Athens will pay with a massive loss of its sovereignty, the eurozone chief has said. In return for the €12 billion – the fifth payment from the €110 billion EU-IMF loan agreed last year – Greece will have to push through a swathe of privatisations reminiscent of the selling of East German firms in the 1990s after the fall of Communism.

“‘The sovereignty of Greece will be massively limited,’ Jean-Claude Juncker told Germany’s Focus Magazin…”

In the future, we will observe the loss of sovereignty of other European countries as well.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn Victim of Conspiracy?

On July 2, Reuters reported the following:

“Scrutiny of the accuser in the sexual assault case against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn intensified on Saturday after more revelations about her conduct following the purported May 14 attack. A judge released Strauss-Kahn from house arrest and lifted strict bail conditions on Friday after prosecutors discovered a pattern of lying in the accuser’s background, although serious charges including sexual assault and attempted rape remain in place against the man once seen a top French presidential contender…

“In a [recorded] phone conversation with her boyfriend, who was held in an Arizona jail on suspicion of possessing 400 pounds (180 kg) of marijuana, she said there was money to be made from Strauss-Kahn… On Friday, prosecutors said the accuser lied about being gang-raped in Guinea as part of an application for U.S. asylum and changed details of her story about what she did after the incident in Straus-Kahn’s luxury hotel suite.

“As the woman’s stature falls, that of Strauss-Kahn has rebounded. Some in France are talking about a political comeback…Revelations about the accuser have left prosecutors struggling to make a case with a central witness whose credibility would be targeted by Strauss-Kahn’s defense lawyers. Investigators once trumpeted the woman as a devout Muslim…”

The New York Post wrote on July 2:

“Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s accuser wasn’t just a girl working at a hotel — she was a working girl. The Sofitel housekeeper who claims the former IMF boss sexually assaulted her in his room was doing double duty as a prostitute, collecting cash on the side from male guests… The woman was allegedly purposely assigned to the Midtown hotel by her union because it knew she would bring in big bucks…

“Sources also told The Post Strauss-Kahn’s probers uncovered evidence that she was part of a pyramid scheme that targeted immigrants from her native Guinea… The stunning new info surfaced yesterday as the accuser was unmasked as a pathological liar and scam artist by prosecutors whose rape case has unraveled… To get tax benefits, she also claimed she had a second child. She only has one, a 15-year-old daughter.”

The abominable way in which Dominique Strauss-Kahn was treated, so far, by the American legal system and the American press is of course no justification or excuse for his infidelity. If he had not engaged in admitted adulterous conduct, no allegations of sexual assault could have been brought. Sadly, far too many would excuse his adulterous conduct, as long as it was “consensual.” Please read in this context our next article.

On the other hand, our legal system does not punish adultery, but it does punish sexual assault and attempted rape. However, insofar as those criminal allegations are concerned, our system demands that a person is viewed to be innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law, during a fair trial. This important principle has been terribly violated by our entire legal system and the shameless reporting by our media.

French “Tolerance” and “Admiration” for Infidelity

The Washington Post wrote on July 2:

“Even if the sexual assault case against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is faltering, its repercussions in France are not… Several people said Saturday that it was the rape allegations, not the infidelity, that started to shift their opinions…

“Journalists and politicians in France had long considered Strauss-Kahn a womanizer. But few here spoke of it publicly, even after he admitted to a 2008 affair with a Hungarian economist who was a subordinate at the International Monetary Fund. When they did, it tended to be with admiration or amusement, not concern. Even Strauss-Kahn’s wife, former broadcast journalist Anne Sinclair, said in 2006 that ‘for a political man, it is important to seduce.’

“French journalists obeyed a culture of discretion so strong and venerable that former president Francois Mitterrand was able to have a long-standing mistress and a child without journalists writing about it until shortly before he retired.

“That silence, many here say, was part of what enabled the encounter in room 2806 of the Manhattan Sofitel. Neither side disputes that a sexual encounter took place; at issue is whether it was consensual and whether it was violent…”

This is indeed a very sad testimony of a country which claims to be “Christian.”

“Otto von Habsburg, Heir to Austria’s Last Emperor, Dies at 98”

The Local wrote on July 4:

“Otto von Habsburg, the eldest son of Austria’s last emperor who became a champion of Europe’s enlargement as a Bavarian politician, died Monday in Germany at the age of 98. The man who was once first in line to the throne of the former Austro-Hungarian empire which covered most of central Europe, died at his home in Pöcking on Lake Starnberg in Bavaria…

“The son of emperor Karl I, who reigned for only two years before the empire disintegrated, Habsburg was born on November 20, 1912 in Reichenau an der Rax in eastern Austria… the state abolished his family’s titles and confiscated their property in 1919… [He served as an] elected member of the European parliament from 1979 to 1999 for Bavaria’s conservative CSU party. He held Austrian, German and Hungarian citizenship. An ardent anti-Communist, Habsburg organised in August 1989 the now-famous ‘Pan-European picnic’ in Sopron, near Hungary’s border with Austria, during which some 700 East Germans were able to escape to the West, a few months before the Berlin Wall fell on November 9.

“He always campaigned for a unified Europe based on Christian values and for a greater integration of eastern countries into Europe. Forced into exile with his family after the empire fell in 1918, Habsburg spent time in Switzerland, on the Portuguese island of Madeira, Spain, Belgium, France and the United States, and studied political and social sciences at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, graduating with a doctorate in 1935. In the 1930s, he openly opposed the Nazi party, joining the Austrian resistance after the 1938 Anschluß and helping thousands of Jews flee the country at the beginning of World War II…

“He said he became ‘a European patriot in the very depths of his soul’ after Nazi Germany occupied Austria. In 1951, Habsburg married the German princess Regina von Saxe-Meiningen und Hildburghausen, with whom he had seven children. He reluctantly renounced all claims to the Austrian throne in 1961, five years before the state repealed so-called anti-Habsburg laws, adopted after World War I, which effectively banned all members of the former imperial family from setting foot in Austria.”

“What’s Wrong with Eating Dog Meat?”

CNN published the following ridiculous article on June 30:

“Dog soup, or Boshintang, is a summer delicacy in South Korea… A minority of people eat it regularly. It’s consumed most frequently in summer but is available year-round. And it’s more popular with men than women and is said to possess qualities that ‘help stamina’… In the country, they raise ‘meat dogs,’ also known as ‘junk dogs’ and ‘lower-grade’ dogs… So, what’s really wrong with eating dog? Just because we don’t do it in the U.S. doesn’t seem to make for a very good argument.”

If one was familiar with and believed the Bible, the answer would be obvious: God did not create dogs for human consumption. The fact that ignorant people don’t abide by God’s health laws and eat whatever they wish, does not mean that God approves of such conduct. For more information, please read our Q&As on the issue of clean and unclean meat. https://www.eternalgod.org/qapdf/1216 and https://www.eternalgod.org/qapdf/3192

Europe Is Doing the Work

Reuters reported on June 28:

“French President Nicolas Sarkozy rejected on Friday criticism of Europe’s role in the Libyan war effort by outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and insisted Washington’s allies were ‘doing the work… It was particularly inappropriate for Mr. Gates to say that [i.e., that Europe is not doing enough in Libya] and, what is more, completely false, given what is going on in Libya,’ Sarkozy told reporters at an EU summit in Brussels. ‘There are certainly other moments in history when he could have said that, but not when Europeans have courageously taken the Libyan issue in hand and when France and Britain, with their allies, for the most part, are doing the work.’”

The relationship between Europe and the USA is bound to deteriorate. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.”

The Hague Issues Warrant Against Gadhafi

Deutsche Welle reported on June 27:

“Libyan rebels, human rights groups and numerous governments around the world warmly welcomed the decision by the International Criminal Court in The Hague on Monday to issue [arrest] warrants for Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, his son, Saif al-Islam, and the regime’s director of intelligence, Abdullah al-Senussi, Gadhafi’s brother-in-law. The three men have been charged with crimes against humanity, committed against opponents of the regime since mid-February of this year…

“NATO, which is coordinating and conducting the air campaign against the Libyan leader, said the indictments showed that time was running out for Gadhafi… Monday’s announcement marks the first time that the ICC has ever issued arrest warrants during an ongoing conflict.”

The Associated Press wrote on June 27:

“The warrants turn Gadhafi, his son Seif al-Islam Gadhafi and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanoussi into internationally wanted suspects, potentially complicating any efforts to mediate an end to more than four months of intense fighting in the North African nation… Gadhafi’s regime remained defiant. Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim… insisted Gadhafi will remain in Libya.

“While issuing international arrest warrants is a significant step toward bringing Gadhafi to The Hague to face justice, the court has no police force and a patchy record on detaining suspects. The court’s best chance of detaining Gadhafi appears to be if rebels supported by NATO airstrikes win the battle for control of Libya, manage to arrest the longtime leader and agree to extradite him to stand trial.

“In the court’s only other case against a head of state, judges have twice issued international arrest warrants for Sudanese leader Omar al Bashir on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur, but he remains free nearly a year after the second warrant was issued and has flown several times to friendly nations without being arrested.”

Die Welt wrote on June 28:

“One does not need to mince words or beat around the bush: Moammar Gadhafi is a bloodthirsty torturer. He is a murderer who sometimes pitches his tent in Sodom, at other times in Gomorrah. Even worse, he transforms every place that he governs into Sodom and Gomorrah. Every day that he remains in power is one day too many. Nevertheless, the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant against him is foolish. … It will rule out any possibility of Gadhafi choosing to go into exile, because most states will be obliged to arrest him and deport him to the Netherlands.”

Even though the Western world may jubilate over The Hague’s entirely symbolic and thoroughly political move to issue arrest warrants (normally it takes The Hague years of prior investigations before they would be willing to even entertain that thought), the Associated Press stated correctly that this ill-advised action will “complicate any efforts to mediate an end to the war,” and Die Welt added accurately that this course of  conduct prevents the possibility of Gadhafi ending the war and going into exile. The Libyan war becomes also more and more questionable in light of the following statements by Deutsche Welle, dated June 29:

“This week marked the three-month anniversary since the start of NATO’s military operations in Libya, but there was little sign of a breakthrough… Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini told reporters last week that NATO’s reputation was on the line… On Monday, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Gadhafi, accusing him of crimes against humanity. Ian Lesser of the German Marshall Fund in Washington said that the court’s decision could prolong NATO’s involvement… Adding to NATO’s woes, key allies Britain and France are warning about the cost of the air strikes, running at around 1 million euros ($143 million) per day. Others, like Canada, are considering pulling out in the autumn.”

Germany’s Duplicity

Der Spiegel wrote on June 29:

“Germany’s abstention from the Security Council vote authorizing the use of force against Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi earned it criticism from its international partners. But now the German government, despite its fundamental unwillingness to get involved in the conflict, wants to help its NATO allies attack Gadhafi’s troops…

“NATO submitted a request to all members asking for technology and components for bombs and other military equipment at the start of last week. Berlin has already responded positively to the request… Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière approved the request from the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA). He gave authorization for the German military, the Bundeswehr, to provide bomb components and complete missiles for the Allied bombing campaign against Gadhafi

“… the government is assuming that the Bundeswehr will receive a detailed request within the next few days. Then the military will check whether it can help its allies and how quickly the weaponry can be delivered. It is not clear which weapons would be included in a concrete request… In Berlin on Monday, requests for an official statement on the Defense Ministry’s controversial decision went unfulfilled. The Foreign Ministry likewise opted not to comment…”

In an accompanying article, Der Spiegel Online reported about the furor and condemnation with which the opposition and even members from the coalition party reacted to the report that the German Defense Ministry had responded positively to NATO’s request. However, such German duplicity is not new. When the German government, under former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, publically condemned the Iraq war, Germany’s Intelligence clandestinely assisted the Bush Administration in their war efforts.

Rumors of US Plans for Libya, Syria Cause Concern

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 27:

“When the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1973 on March 17 of this year, it authorized the use of force by UN member states, granting them the right to take all necessary measures to protect civilians under threat of attack in Libya, including Benghazi, while excluding a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory.

“In the three months that have followed, the rules of Resolution 1973 appear to have been bent to allow the NATO-led mission to not only protect civilians in Libya but actively pursue the forces of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, target his strongholds and effectively force him out of power. This ‘mission creep’ has caused fractures and divisions within the international coalition that originally agreed to take on the UN’s Libyan operations.

“The Arab League, whose involvement helped sell the mission to the Arab world, is becoming increasingly nervous about what it sees as NATO’s new goal of regime change. Meanwhile, those members of the Security Council that abstained from the Resolution 1973 vote are concerned by developments they fear may lead toward a land invasion of Libya and the contravening of the UN resolution. Russia in particular has been angered by the deployment of military advisors and Special Forces operatives from the US, France and Britain to support the efforts of the Libyan opposition.

“Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters earlier this month after France and Britain had deployed attack helicopters to Libya for the first time that the prospect of land operations in Libya was against Moscow’s wishes…  a number of unsubstantiated reports based on anonymous military sources began flooding the Internet claiming that US forces were already being readied for a full-scale ground invasion of Libya… [in] October.

“Whether it is part of a future invasion plan or not, the existence of a recently re-deployed US Navy strike group in the Mediterranean cannot be disputed… The group, led by the Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush, along with the guided missile destroyers Truxtun and Mitscher, the missile cruisers Gettysburg and Anzio and eight squadrons of aircraft, has been sent to strengthen the US Sixth Fleet which is based in Naples, Italy. Most of the NATO missions in Libya to date have originated from bases in that country. If an invasion was being planned, the amount of naval firepower now available in the region would give more than adequate support for any land forces being deployed on Libyan soil.

“This is not the only US Navy strike group on the move. The USS Bataan, which alone can land more than 2,000 marines, equipped with helicopters and vertical takeoff planes, artillery and tanks, along with two other amphibious assault ships, anchored in Italy in mid-May. Reports suggest that the Bataan and its flotilla then left for an undisclosed location off the Syrian coast, prompting further rumors of a potential US intervention in Syria… However, while there is no documented evidence that suggests the US is planning to intervene in Syria, the presence of US warships in the vicinity – for whatever reason – … cannot be denied.”

In light of America’s domestic troubles and its feverish fascination with its Presidential elections in 2012, it may appear unlikely that the USA will get involved in another invasion of foreign countries, unless the Obama Administration may feel that such a move might increase its chances of winning the next election. In any event, the very idea that such an invasion might be possible raises grave concerns among America’s allies and foes alike. It also brings back into focus that even NATO’s current activities, especially as they pertain to Libya, seem to be in blatant violation of international law and the UN resolution authorizing limited military activities pertaining to Libya. Even though the warring Western parties don’t seem to be impressed by the restrictive demands of the law, it does not speak well about their unwillingness to abide by it and their alleged “noble cause” for fighting in Libya in the first place.

Iran’s Nuclear Plant to Start in August

The Associated Press reported on June 27:

“Moscow and Tehran signed a US$1 billion contract to build the 1,000-megawatt Bushehr plant in 1995, but delays… left the plant unfinished for years. Russian Deputy Foreign Ministry Sergei Ryabkov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying Monday that the plant is ‘completed’ and will start up in early August. The United States and some of its allies believe the plant is part of an Iranian attempt to develop nuclear weapons.”

The Guardian wrote on June 29:

“A senior Saudi Arabian diplomat and member of the ruling royal family has raised the spectre of nuclear conflict in the Middle East if Iran comes close to developing a nuclear weapon. Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former Saudi intelligence chief and ambassador to Washington, warned senior Nato military officials that the existence of such a device ‘would compel Saudi Arabia to pursue policies which could lead to untold and possibly dramatic consequences.’

“He did not state explicitly what these policies would be, but a senior official in Riyadh who is close to the prince said yesterday his message was clear. ‘We cannot live in a situation where Iran has nuclear weapons and we don’t. It’s as simple as that,’ the official said. ‘If Iran develops a nuclear weapon, that will be unacceptable to us and we will have to follow suit’…

“Turki holds no official post in Saudi Arabia but is seen as an ambassador at large for the kingdom and a potential future foreign minister. Diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks and published by the Guardian last year revealed that King Abdullah, who has ruled Saudi Arabia since 2005, had privately warned Washington in 2008 that if Iran developed nuclear weapons ‘everyone in the region would do the same, including Saudi Arabia’…

“Turki also accused Iran of interfering in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and in the Gulf state of Bahrain…”

We have warned for quite some time that Iran pursues its nuclear activities with the intent to build a nuclear weapon and to use it in a war against Israel. Iran is getting closer and closer to its goal, and an explosion of the entire Middle Eastern powder keg would be the inevitable consequence.

Egypt’s Dilemma

Der Spiegel wrote on June 27:

“A new state is being born in Egypt in the wake of the revolution. While the old guard is battling to preserve its influence, scores of new parties are jockeying for power, including the Muslim Brotherhood, which is resorting to shrewd tactics in a bid to cement its political clout… Five months after Hosni Mubarak, who ruled the country for 30 years with a single political party and a clique of corrupt corporate leaders, stepped down at the age of 83, Egypt’s population of some 80 million is mired in a political swamp. It is hard to discern the democratic reforms, the long-overdue improvement in living conditions and the more equitable social order that Egyptian protestors longed for. ‘It’s business as usual,’ wrote the popular weekly newspaper Al-Fagr (The Dawn) in a resigned commentary. ‘The old powers are still in control.’

“Very few of Egypt’s key government decision-makers have had to give up their posts. Only a handful of prominent officials… were replaced. Security also leaves much to be desired. Crime is rife due to a lack of police operations. Unknown gangs have meticulously dismantled and stolen some 300 kilometers of train track along an important route across the Suez Canal towards Palestine and Israel…

“Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood is making headway in its campaign in the villages and city slums where imams are trying to persuade the faithful that everyone who denies the party of the Muslim Brotherhood his vote is betraying Islam…”

Politico reported on June 30:

“The U.S. has decided to formally resume contact with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood group – which does not recognize Israel… One senior U.S. official said the Brotherhood’s rise in political prominence… makes the American contact necessary… The decision to resume contact with the Muslim Brotherhood group may worry members of the Jewish community and Israeli officials, Reuters reported. Politico… wrote yesterday about the increasing anxiety of center-left Jewish Democrats who are losing faith in Obama, most recently because of the speech in which he called for the country’s 1967 borders to be the basis for peace talks, with ‘land swaps.’”

The whole idea of Egypt’s fight for real change and true democracy was, sadly, nothing else but an illusionary pipe dream. Egypt’s prophesied future does not look too promising.

Chinese-European Relationship

Deutsche Welle reported on June 27:

“Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao explained to his government that solving Europe’s debt crisis would be of great interest to China. Hong Lei of the Chinese Foreign Office stated that ‘China is ready to help European countries now and in the future.’ He explained further that some measures to boost economic cooperation have already been taken; for example, China has started buying EU bonds… China’s foreign exchange reserves of over $3 billion (around 2.1 billion euros) are the largest in the world. One fourth of these are in euros. According to official Chinese statements, China has already bought up debt from euro countries for billions of dollars since April alone…

“Thirteen Chinese ministers are accompanying Wen Jiabao for the first round of German-Chinese government consultations in Berlin. For China, this is a completely new form of cooperation… [Germany’s Chancellor Angela] Merkel still takes every opportunity she gets to talk to the Chinese government about human rights. Though the Chinese have always patiently listened to her, it has never seemed to have any effect.”

The Telegraph wrote on June 27:

“…while the Chinese media will sell any intervention [to save the euro] as a grand favour to impoverished Europe, it is worth remembering that Europe remains China’s biggest export market. And with the latest surveys indicating that Chinese factories have slowed to almost flat growth, China needs Europe to keep on buying its goods or face difficulties in what remains one of the key pillars of its economy. China may be the world’s fastest-growing major economy, but it still needs moribund old Europe.”

Der Spiegel added on June 27:

“Beijing recently published a report praising cooperation between the two countries [China and Germany]. From bank regulation to research, technology and youth exchange programs, the ‘strategic partnership’ with Germany is more extensive than with any other European nation…”

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 28:

“As Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao wrapped up his European visit in Berlin on Tuesday, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany intended to boost trade with China to at least 200 billion euros ($283.8 billion) in the next five years… Trade between the world’s number two economy, China, and Germany, at number four, currently stands at 130 billion euros annually. The Chinese premier followed Merkel’s announcement by asserting China’s confidence in the eurozone. ‘It’s true that right now some European Union countries are encountering economic problems. These are, however, of a temporary nature,’ he told the business forum. The European Union is ‘strong enough to master the current challenges,’ he added.”

The close interdependent relationship between Europe and China is one more reason why the euro will not fail, as both power blocs cannot afford such an occurrence. However, just to give an example of the absolute nonsense and irresponsible misinformation which is being circulated, note what the British Express wrote on June 27:

“Rumours are also rife in Germany that Deutsche Mark bank notes are being printed again in preparation for ditching the euro. It is said Germany’s central bank, the Bundesbank, has been ordered to print marks as part of contingency plans to leave Europe’s single currency.”

Of course, there is absolutely no verifiable truth to this statement, and no shred of evidence is offered for such irresponsible reporting, but the tragedy is that gullible people tend to believe just about anything that seems to support their false paradigms and wishful thinking.

“Berlin’s Dance with the Dragon”… German Press Concerned About China’s Influence

The Local wrote on June 29:

“Newspapers, regardless of their political stripes, were all but unanimous in expressing concern about the danger of too-great China’s influence in Germany and Europe after Chinese premier Wen Jiabao travelled to the region this week. Some bemoaned the lack of a united European policy on China, allowing the emerging Asian giant to use its considerable economic lure – and bulging wallet – to more easily influence each country individually… while Germany sees business and trade as purely economic issues, China sees them strategically…

“Populist mass-circulation Bild newspaper wrote that China offers great business opportunities – but also poses a giant risk… ‘China is not a democracy, nor a country with the rule of law, nor a free market economy, distance and mistrust remain essential… Germany and Europe must remain true to themselves…’

“The centre-left Süddeutsche Zeitung lamented the fact that there was no common European policy on China… The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung criticized the fact that Europe sees China only through the lenses of business and human rights… China’s purchase of the stricken bonds of debt-ridden European nations was not done from the goodness of its heart, the paper wrote. Europe’s increasing dependence on China would make criticism of its human rights record harder…

“The left-wing Tageszeitung wrote that the great love-in between the German cabinet and Wen’s entourage of ministers masked the realities of China: a paranoid communist party that is cracking down on media and strengthening its network of spies while using business to further its political aims. The paper noted that an advisor to the Chinese Foreign Ministry had recently put it this way: The Chinese were ‘interested in a strategic vision and a global perspective. Europe by contrast seems to believe that it is more important how many planes are sold and how many contracts are signed.’”

EU Pressures Greece

The EUObserver wrote on June 28:

“…the European Commission has warned Greek deputies that if they do not vote the right way, then ‘everything changes’ as to whether ‘EU solidarity continues’… EU economics commissioner Olli Rehn said there are only two options for the country: pass the mid-term package or default… He refused to answer whether a country can default and still be a member of the Eurozone…

“The austerity has provoked furious country-wide resistance to the measures. A two-day general strike [instigated by communists and labor and trade unions, and supported by anarchists, according to Der Spiegel and Deutsche Welle] was launched on Tuesday.”

BBC News wrote on June 29:

“The Greek parliament has voted in favour of a drastic package of austerity measures intended to save the country from defaulting on its debts. The proposed tax hikes and spending cuts have been deeply unpopular with the Greek public. A nationwide 48-hour strike is under way and violent clashes are continuing in the streets of the capital, Athens… Top EU officials welcomed the result as a ‘vote of national responsibility’, saying it had pulled Greece away from the ‘very grave scenario of default’ while paving the way for a second aid package.”

In response to the Greek vote, Bild Online wrote: “The euro has been saved.” Deutsche Welle quoted Angela Merkel as saying the vote was “both an important step for the future of Greece and for the stability of the euro. We, the European Union, stand ready to help.”

According to Bild Online, the Greek Parliament approved detailed laws pertaining to austerity measures in a second vote on June 30. The paper wrote: “Now it is done!” It also stated: “As a consequence, the market reacted positively and relieved, and the value of the euro rose and reached a level of 1.45 towards the U.S. dollar.”

Animal Sacrifices—A Foretaste of What Is to Come…

BBC News reported on June 28:

“The Dutch lower house of parliament has passed a law effectively banning the ritual slaughter of animals… The legislation states that all animals must be stunned before being killed. But the Islamic dhabiha and Jewish shechita methods of ritual slaughter require them to be fully conscious… debate over the matter swiftly became a focus of animosity towards the Netherlands’ 1.2 million-strong Muslim community. The country’s Jewish population is comparatively small at 50,000.

“Following months of debate a last minute concession was offered – the Muslim and Jewish communities will have a year to provide evidence that animals slaughtered by traditional methods do not experience greater pain than those that are stunned before they are killed. However, observers say finding such proof will be virtually impossible. The bill must still be approved by the upper house of parliament before it can become law… In a rare show of unity, the Muslim and Jewish communities condemned the legislation and said it infringed on their religious freedom.

“‘One of the first measures taken during the Occupation [by Nazi Germany during World War II] was the closing of kosher abattoirs,’ Dutch Chief Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs told MPs during a debate in The Hague… To make meat kosher for Jews or halal for Muslims, animals must be slaughtered while still awake, by swiftly cutting the main arteries and veins in their necks with sharp knives, and then allowing the blood to drain out.”

This is an interesting foretaste of what IS going to happen in the Holy Land. The Bible is very specific that the Jews will start bringing sacrifices again in Jerusalem, and the future United States of Europe, under German leadership, will intervene and forcefully forbid such sacrifices.

IMF Confirms Lagarde as Strauss-Kahn Successor

Deutsche Welle reported on June 29:

“French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde has been named as the new head of the International Monetary Fund… replacing her countryman Dominique Strauss-Kahn who was forced to step down from the post in May after becoming embroiled in a sexual assault case in the United States…

“The 24-member IMF board appointed Lagarde, 55, by consensus to a five-year term beginning July 5. Earlier Tuesday, she had won the backing of the United States, which carries the most votes within the board. A host of Asian, African, European and Latin American nations also threw their weight behind her for the role, which traditionally has gone to a European…

“Lagarde was the first woman to head the French Finance Ministry, the first female finance minister in a G8 country and is now the first woman to lead the IMF. She received strong support for her candidacy, backed not only by French President Nicolas Sarkozy but also by members of the OECD from Britain, Italy, Ireland and the Netherlands. Germany had also expressed support for her… Lagarde also received backing from Russia and China, despite the fact that the latter would have preferred a candidate from the emerging economies take the job, rather than another European…

“Like Sarkozy, she wants the IMF to develop into a type of global economic governance organization. The contacts she’s made during her career in the international economic and financial world could help realize this aim.”

Der Spiegel Online commented that  “’Convinced European’ Christine Lagarde Takes Over.” Lagarde’s intensions to bring about a global economic government are also quite interesting in light of biblical prophecies, as contained in the 18th chapter of the book of Revelation.

Nuclear Threats in the USA

CNN reported on June 29:

“The manager of the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant and his colleagues are bent on dispelling rumors about… a meltdown… Still, there is a genuine crisis at the plant. Floodwaters from the swollen Missouri River have engulfed this facility… The buildings housing the reactor core, the spent fuel rods and other crucial components are protected by small levees and aqua-berms. But outside those barriers, the water is at least 2 feet above ground level…

“Officials did not allow journalists directly into the rooms housing the reactor core and the spent fuel rods…”

Reuters reported on June 29:

“New Mexico fire managers scrambled on Tuesday to reinforce crews battling a third day against an out-of-control blaze at the edge of one of the nation’s top nuclear weapons production centers. The fire’s leading edge burned to within a few miles… of a dump site where some 20,000 barrels of plutonium-contaminated waste is stored at the Los Alamos National Laboratory…

“Established during World War Two as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project to build the first atomic bomb, it remains one of the leading nuclear arms manufacturing facilities in the United States. Nuclear Watch New Mexico said on its website its greatest concern was for the 20,000 55-gallon sealed drums of plutonium-tainted waste stored at one corner of the complex, some stacked in the open on asphalt, some in tents, some buried underground…

Of course, we are being told that no real danger exists. But in light of the continuing lies permeating from Japan’s nuclear power plant fiasco, who is really willing to believe those “reassuring” words any longer? In any event, we should be able to see the potential dangers that nuclear power plants pose for mankind.

Fast and Furious…

CNN reported on June 17:

“The Mexican government’s fight against drug cartels has cost thousands of lives with guns smuggled in from the United States helping to fan the flames of this deadly fight… the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (or ‘ATF’ as it is commonly known) conceived of Operation Fast and Furious. The idea was to allow some guns to cross the southern border in the hope of seeing where those weapons ended up.

“But once those guns arrived in Mexico there was no way of tracing them until they turned up at a crime scene. Sadly, one of those guns turned up near Rio Rico, AZ next to the body of Customs and Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. Now Congress is asking questions. Lawmakers want to know who allowed this operation to go forward. And answers have been in short supply.

“One thing that is known is that the Mexican government wasn’t informed of the operation…”

On June 15, CNN had given the following additional information:

“Operation Fast and Furious, as the program was known, was ‘a colossal failure of leadership,’ said Peter Forcelli, a supervisor at the Phoenix field office…[Another] agent, John Dodson, told lawmakers: ‘I cannot begin to think of how the risk of letting guns fall into the hands of known criminals could possibly advance any legitimate law enforcement interest…

“Operation Fast and Furious focused on… people who legally bought weapons that were then transferred to criminals and destined for Mexico. But instead of intercepting the weapons when they switched hands, Operation Fast and Furious called for ATF agents to let the guns ‘walk’ and wait for them to surface in Mexico… The idea was that once the weapons in Mexico were traced back to the straw purchasers, the entire arms smuggling network could be brought down…

“The committee’s chairman, California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, called the operation ‘felony stupid.’ As many as 2,000 semi-automatic rifles reached the hands of the cartels as a result… Issa also was upset over heavily redacted documents that his committee had received from the attorney general’s office.”

Newsmax added on June 20:

“Kenneth Melson, the acting director of the Bureau of Tobacco, Alcohol and Firearms (ATF), is expected to step down in the wake of the ‘Fast and Furious’ gun-running scheme… But the plan went disastrously wrong and the weapons have been used in at least 150 shootings. The ATF now admits it lost track of two-thirds of the guns.”

One has to shake one’s head over the degree of stupidity—and worse—with which this operation was concocted and conducted. It is additional testimony to the fact that God has indeed poured out a spirit of stupor on this nation (compare Romans 11:8). You might also review our recent article, “Senseless U.S. Dealings…” in the Current Events section of our Update # 495, to find more incredible examples of senseless U.S. dealings…

Questionable Legal US Operation in Libya

The New York Times stated on June 17, 2011

“President Obama rejected the views of top lawyers at the Pentagon and the Justice Department when he decided that he had the legal authority to continue American military participation in the air war in Libya without Congressional authorization… Jeh C. Johnson, the Pentagon general counsel, and Caroline D. Krass, the acting head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, had told the White House that they believed that the United States military’s activities in the NATO-led air war amounted to ‘hostilities.’ Under the War Powers Resolution, that would have required Mr. Obama to terminate or scale back the mission after May 20.

“But Mr. Obama decided instead to adopt the legal analysis of several other senior members of his legal team — including the White House counsel, Robert Bauer, and the State Department legal adviser, Harold H. Koh — who argued that the United States military’s activities fell short of ‘hostilities.’ Under that view, Mr. Obama needed no permission from Congress to continue the mission unchanged.

“Presidents have the legal authority to override the legal conclusions of the Office of Legal Counsel and to act in a manner that is contrary to its advice, but it is extraordinarily rare for that to happen. Under normal circumstances, the office’s interpretation of the law is legally binding on the executive branch…

“[The House speaker, John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio, said:] ‘The White House says there are no hostilities taking place. Yet we’ve got drone attacks under way. We’re spending $10 million a day. We’re part of an effort to drop bombs on Qaddafi’s compounds. It just doesn’t pass the straight-face test, in my view, that we’re not in the midst of hostilities’…”

Whatever the accuracy of the legal interpretation of the resolution in question, America’s involvement in the ill-perceived and –conducted “war” against Libya and its internal struggle regarding the lack of “advisability” of such action only add to the downfall and demise of the USA. As the EUObserver reported on June 20, even NATO’s “limited” goal for Libya is coming under pressure.

According to the news agency, “Nato on Sunday… admitted its first major airstrike blunder causing civilian casualties in the four-month long Libyan campaign against Moammar Gaddafi… Nato’s blunder – the first such admission since operations began four months ago with the aim of ‘protecting civilians’ from Gaddafi’s mortar shells and airstrikes – comes shortly after the outgoing US defence minister Robert Gates highlighted the technical and intelligence shortfalls of the alliance in Libya.”

AFP added on June 22: “Italy called for a suspension of hostilities in Libya on Wednesday in the latest sign of dissent within NATO as the civilian death toll mounts and Moamer Kadhafi shows no signs of quitting power… France, which has taken the lead in military operations against Kadhafi, immediately ruled out any pause in the Libya campaign… Despite repeated calls for unity within NATO on its air strikes, the strain has begun to show in the alliance and Norway’s recent decision to withdraw from operations sparked fears others may follow.”

Romney’s Ever-Shifting Positions…

On June 18, 2011, Reuters reported the following:

“Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney restated his support for a reversal of Roe vs Wade Saturday after opting not to sign what he called an ‘overly broad’ pledge promoted by an anti-abortion advocacy group. ‘I am pro-life and believe that abortion should be limited to only instances of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother,’ the former Massachusetts governor wrote in an editorial on the conservative National Review’s website. [He] was attempting to blunt criticism of his decision not to sign a pledge pushed by the Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion organization.

“Those signing the list vow to nominate judges and appoint executive branch officials who are opposed to abortion. Signing on have been Minnesota Congressman [sic] Michele Bachmann, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, Texas Congressman Ron Paul, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. Romney, Georgia businessman Herman Cain and former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson opted not to sign…

“Democrats charge that Romney has changed his views on abortion at least once. In 2002, while campaigning for governor in socially liberal Massachusetts, he vowed to ‘preserve and protect’ a woman’s right to have an abortion.”

Politics and more politics… and in reading the next article, one wonders what IS really going on in our countries…

Bilderberg Holds True Power in America?

On June 20, The Drudge Report provided a link to the following article by Infowar:

“Every indication suggests that Bilderberg-approved Texas Governor Rick Perry is set to become the frontrunner in the Republican race to challenge Barack Obama for the presidency, illustrating once again how a shady, secretive and undemocratic global elite holds the reigns of true power while Americans are distracted by the delusional notion that they have a genuine choice in 2012…

“While spewing Tea Party-style rhetoric about secession, shooting coyotes and courting the favor of Christian evangelicals, behind closed doors Perry has been quietly selling out Texas to globalist interests, auctioning off highways to foreign companies to turn them into profit-driven toll roads.

“‘Speculation that Perry is the Bilderberg group’s ace card was prompted by the current political climate, which can largely be gleaned from the fact that Perry is a longtime, unwavering supporter of the NAFTA Superhighway and related infrastructure projects,’ wrote AFP’s Jim Tucker earlier this month. ‘These pave the way for the Bilderberg-supported North American Union (NAU) proposal that would merge the U.S., Canada and Mexico.’

“Perry has also given enthusiastic support to former Mexican President Vicente Fox’s efforts to turn Texas into a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants. He also aggressively promoted the Rockefeller Foundation-backed HPV vaccination campaign in Texas that has led to deaths worldwide. David Rockefeller is a prominent Bilderberger, attending each annual meeting without fail.

“Perry attended the June 2007 Bilderberg conference in Istanbul, Turkey… Look beyond the rhetoric and study what Perry has actually done in his role as Governor – he’s the ultimate globalist – his every action illustrates how he’s the diametric opposite to the image of the Tea Party populist that he attempts to portray. That’s why he’s the perfect pick for the globalists, someone who can suck in the trust of the American people only to stab them in the back upon becoming president, just as Obama did before him.

“Bilderberg has proven its kingmaker role time and time again not just in US politics but worldwide. Bill Clinton was a little-known Governor of Arkansas before he attended a Bilderberg meeting in 1991 and went on to become President a year later. Similarly, British Prime Minister Tony Blair attended Bilderberg before his election in 1997. According to Euro Weekly News, Maria Dolores De Cospedal’s attendance at Bilderberg 2011 in St. Moritz Switzerland also ‘augurs a victory in Spain’s next general election’ for her Partido Popular party.

“Obama himself was reportedly vetted by Bilderberg when he infamously disappeared to a secret location with Hillary Clinton in June 2008 in Northern Virginia, at precisely the same time and location the Bilderberg Group were convening in Chantilly. Bilderberg luminary James A. Johnson was also responsible for selecting Obama’s running mate Joe Biden, having also previously selected John Edwards as John Kerry’s right hand man in 2004 after Edwards had impressed Bilderberg elitists Henry Kissinger and David Rockefeller with a speech he gave at the globalist confab in Italy that year…

“Bilderberg’s continual influence in picking US presidents and potential vice-presidents again serves up a reminder that the real power structure steering the planet goes beyond teleprompter-reading puppet presidents and rests in the hands of multi-generational globalists, central banking moguls and the CEO’s of the world’s biggest corporations, all of whom routinely attend the Bilderberg Group confab every year.”

This sounds almost too far-fetched to be believable… but then, stranger things have happened. One thing is sure… this world is ruled by invisible conspirators virtually unknown and unnoticed by the masses. We are talking about Satan and his demons… and Satan’s wrath is great because he knows that he has only a short time left. We can therefore expect horrible and surprising developments to occur in the near future before Christ returns to put an end to Satan’s terrible rule over man. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Angels, Demons and the Spirit World.”

America’s Ongoing Catastrophes

Reuters reported on June 22:

“Emergency sirens sounded in Minot, North Dakota on Wednesday telling up to 12,000 residents to evacuate immediately because the rising Souris River is about to overflow flood levees… The Souris River at Minot is expected to smash the previous flood record in 1881 by about 5 feet and reach up to nearly 8 feet higher than 1969 flooding local residents have been using as a benchmark as they prepare to evacuate…

“Heavy rains over the past six weeks have swelled Canadian reservoirs in the Souris River basin, forcing unprecedented water releases. In turn, U.S. officials must release water from the Lake Darling Dam above Minot at a rate more than double what the recently fortified protections can bear… The massive flooding on the Souris River, which flows into the Red River basin, was the latest problem as flooding threatens communities from Montana through Missouri.The swelling Missouri River threatens the North Dakota capital of Bismarck, the South Dakota capital of Pierre and other communities for hundreds of miles downstream…”

Germany and France Find Common Ground on Greece

Deutsche Welle reported on June 17:

“The German and French leaders emerged from a meeting in Berlin on Friday with a common message on helping the ailing Greek economy. The pair called for a swift solution to the country’s debt crisis, which threatens the stability of the euro single currency. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Greece would need a second bailout package to buttress a 110 billion euro ($157 billion) bailout agreed last year. The issue of a second aid deal, expected to be worth around 80 billion euros to 120 billion euros, has divided eurozone members, with the two leaders saying they had reached a ‘breakthrough‘ on the matter and that time was of the essence…

“The leaders also stated that private sector involvement in a second bailout should be on a voluntary basis and be conducted in coordination with the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund… Merkel reiterated her support for the euro and said Germany’s prosperity was dependent on its future stability. Germany and France were determined to defend the common currency, Merkel told reporters, saying ‘we will do everything to preserve and support the euro. ’”

“On June 20, Deutsche Welle stated  that “The Greek finance minister says he is sure the parliament in Athens will give the green light to fresh austerity measures, after eurozone finance ministers made this a condition for the release of further bailout funds… They said the parliamentary approval must be given before Athens can receive an additional 12 billion euros ($17 billion) in emergency loans to prevent it from defaulting on its public debt. The money is part of the 110-euro bailout package the country secured last year. Greece needs the funds by mid-July to stave off insolvency.”

The EUObserver wrote on June 22:

“The freshly reshuffled Greek government has won a vote of confidence by the country’s parliament in an attempt to show strength days before a possible national default. Meanwhile, according to the latest Failed State Index, out this week, Greece was ‘by far the poorest performer’ in political deterioration… The rest of the eurozone and international lenders are now holding their breath until 28 June when the government, hit by a series of resignations and widening civil unrest, will attempt to push through an unpopular series of fresh austerity measures amounting to €28 billion as well as €50 billion in public asset sales.

“The confidence vote came just hours after Fitch, one of the big three credit ratings agencies, declared that it will assess Greece as in default if private bondholders agree to even the softest of voluntary participation in any second bail-out of the country. EU leaders hope to convince private creditors to roll over Greek debt as bonds mature in order to pare back the involvement of the public purse in a second rescue.”

The Bible makes clear that ultimately, Greece will be at least associated with the final configuration of the revived Babylonian system, in oppostion to the state of Israel.  A frightening prophecy in Joel 3:6, addressing the Babylonian system under the designation of mystical Tyre (verse 4), states the following: “Also the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem You have sold to the Greeks, that you may remove them from their borders.”

The Greek Crisis and the Euro

Der Spiegel Online reported on June 20:

“If the rest of Europe abandons Greece, the crisis could spin out of control, spreading from one weak euro-zone country to the next…

“… When things get serious, as they are now, decisions will no longer be made in the somewhat democratically legitimized EU bodies, but at the more or less secret meetings of a handful of leaders. During the German chancellor’s and the French president’s quiet walks together, and at the behind-the-scenes meetings of discrete central banks, policies are being made that are then handed to the parliaments to rubber-stamp, even though hardly any of their members understand them… One of the reasons that Europeans are so incensed at their respective governments is that they are not involved in the decision-making process…

“The euro debt crisis has already swept aside two governments, in Ireland and Portugal, and the Spanish and Greek governments could soon follow. Things are also getting precarious for the government in Berlin, where Chancellor Angela Merkel could lose her parliamentary majority in upcoming votes on bailout measures…

“A collapse of the monetary union would set Europe back by decades, dealing it a blow from which it might never recover… This is why Europe’s politicians want to defend the euro at all costs, and why they are approving one bailout package after the next. They are playing for time… The business community is supporting their efforts, too. In a major advertising campaign scheduled to run in leading publications this week, top German business executives… promote the monetary union and insist: ‘The euro is necessary’…

“More than anything, the euro was a political project. Its advocates, most notably then German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and then French President François Mitterrand, wanted to permanently unite the continent’s core countries…

“There are essentially two alternatives. The first is a radical one, in which the governments pull the plug and leave the beleaguered countries to fend for themselves. The second, more pragmatic solution is to continue muddling along, though somewhat more efficiently, and to hope that things improve. Neither option will be cheap.

“The radical cure works like this: Disappointed by the lack of progress and prospects for improvement, the euro-zone countries leave Greece to fend for itself… The country would quickly become insolvent… If Greece slides into uncontrolled bankruptcy, investors might refuse to invest their money in other ailing euro-zone members. Even more banks could collapse in the ensuing chain reaction…

“In light of these incalculable developments, many are now considering the nuclear option as a real alternative: Greece withdraws from the monetary union and reintroduces the drachma… The crisis would not end after Greece’s withdrawal. In fact, it could even get worse… At the end of such a development, the monetary union could disintegrate into a hard-currency bloc and a group with its own, weaker currencies…

“To prevent this from happening, many politicians specializing in financial and economic affairs recommend bringing about the political union of Europe as quickly as possible, a union with a strong central government. They argue that if the nations in the euro zone formed a closer union, they could coordinate their financial systems more effectively, thus providing the common currency with a political foundation.”

We should take note of several ideas in this article. Firstly, political and economic decisions are being made in secrecy. Secondly, the euro crisis could drastically change the political landscape of Europe. Some governments may topple, and a core Europe could develop (but the core countries would keep the euro, not abandon it). Thirdly, this crisis could motivate European nations to establish a powerful political bloc, with a strong centralized government. These ideas could lead to the fulfillment of key prophecies on Europe. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.”

Germany Will Not Intervene in Syria

On June 20, Der Spiegel Online published the following revealing interview with German Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière. We are bringing you the following excerpts:

“In Afghanistan, we’re demonstrating that the Bundeswehr (…the German military) is a fighting army whenever it has to be…

“Our decision to not participate in the military part of the Libya mission was based on carefully considered reasons. It remains correct… The Americans did ask us for military assistance again at the most recent NATO meeting. We turned them down… When you start something, you of course always have to know how long you can keep it up…

“The world can’t tolerate the regime currently in place in Damascus. But we also have to frankly admit that having Syria disintegrate would be very difficult for the entire region… The same thing applies in this case as for Libya: We will not get involved [in Syria]….

“The problem with our [military] budget is not its size but, rather, its structure. A major share or our total-budget investments — or roughly 22 percent — go toward armaments. That’s high compared with other countries. But almost all of that is tied to old orders, including some that we no longer need as much. Budget commitments need to be designed in a more flexible way… Almost all of my colleagues in NATO and the EU — the Dutch, the Poles, the French — are in the process of adapting their militaries to changed conditions. All of them want more agility, more quality instead of quantity…

“It is in our vital interest to make sure that the United States remains a European power and that it doesn’t look primarily westward. I am always telling the Americans: We Europeans are exhausting and sometimes even difficult and at odds with each other. But, compared with everyone else, we are still the most reliable partner in the world when it comes to stability, democracy and, ultimately, money, as well.”

However, the Bible shows that this will change… very shortly.

European Money for “Defense”

The New York Times wrote on June 22:

“NATO’s disarray has begun to chip away at the wider European-American relationship currently contributing 14 million jobs and $3 trillion in commercial sales. American officials regularly berate the Europeans with calls to spend ever more money on defense, even when the European Union’s total defense budget is already $300 billion, pretty close to America’s defense budget prior to 9/11.

“The real problem is the way in which this money is spent — for example, the wasteful duplication of weapons procurement programs. This will not change unless there is political will among E.U. leaders for change… this will to change will only come about when America decides to take away its defense credit card and asks Europe to take responsibility for its own security.

“The E.U. is increasingly capable of defending itself under its Common Security and Defense Policy, through which the E.U. has already deployed 27 military and civilian missions from Asia to Africa, and just approved the 28th — a military force for Libya that is ready to be deployed as soon as the U.N. asks for it.”

European Leaders Back Obama’s Troop Withdrawal from Afghanistan

Deutsche Welle reported on June 23:

“In a televised speech to the nation on Wednesday evening, US President Barack Obama announced plans for the withdrawal of 33,000 troops from Afghanistan by autumn next year, saying the end was in sight for the NATO-led coalition… NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Thursday welcomed Obama’s announcement to begin a drawdown of US forces… German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has applauded Obama’s decision, saying it indicated plans for [bringing] NATO troops back were becoming more concrete and that the US was signaling its cooperation with the international strategy in Afghanistan… ‘It’s our goal as well to start [bringing] back German troops by the end of the year, ’ Westerwelle added…

“French President Nicolas Sarkozy also lent his support to Obama’s decision… saying France would stick to a similar time frame for gradually bringing home its… troops in Afghanistan. However, Obama remains keen that any withdrawal should not be carried out [too] quickly. The situation is still described as  ‘unstable ’ by generals and the gains made up to this point are not irreversible… The president also spoke of the cost of the exercise, which currently amounts to $10 billion (7 billion euros) per month. Over the course of the last decade, the US spent around $1 trillion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the president said. Given the difficult economic situation faced by the world, he said it was now time to focus on domestic investment…

“The president also informed Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, as well as the leaders of nations committed to the NATO-led effort, including Chancellor Angela Merkel. The future of Afghanistan will be discussed at a conference in the German city of Bonn in December. In addition, a further conference is planned for May next year in Chicago… ”

“America Flirts With a Fate Like Japan’s”

The Financial Times wrote on June 19:

“The stalling of the US recovery raises big, scary questions. After a recession, this economy usually gets people back to work quickly. Not this time. Progress is so slow, the issue is not so much when America will return to full employment but what ‘full employment’ will mean by the time it does….

“Last week President Barack Obama called the pause a ‘bump in the road’. Others think the slowdown will persist and might get worse, fears that cannot be dismissed. One alarming possibility is that the traits the US has relied on to drive growth in the past – labour market flexibility, rapid productivity growth – might have become toxic. If the US is unlucky, traits seen as distinctive strengths are now weaknesses, and a ‘lost decade’ of stagnation, like Japan’s in the 1990s, might lie ahead.”

Sadly, this is exactly what the Bible predicts to occur—notwithstanding the “optimistic” but unrealistic and unbiblical viewpoints of Republican candidates for the Presidency. For more information on the spiritual reasons for this prophesied development, please read our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America.”

China May Still Fall… Like Japan

The Financial Times wrote on June 14:

“Until 1990, Japan was the most successful large economy in the world. Almost nobody predicted what would happen to it in the succeeding decades. Today, people are yet more in awe of the achievements of China. Is it conceivable that this colossus could learn that spectacular success is a precursor of surprising failure? The answer is: yes.

“Japan’s gross domestic product per head… jumped from a fifth of U.S. levels in 1950 to 90 percent in 1990. But this spectacular convergence went into reverse: by 2010, Japan’s GDP per head had fallen to 76 per cent of U.S. levels. China’s GDP per head jumped from 3 percent of U.S. levels in 1978… to a fifth of U.S. levels today. Is this going to continue as spectacularly over the next few decades or could China, too, surprise on the downside?…

“Premier Wen Jiabao has himself described the economy as ‘unstable, unbalanced, uncoordinated and ultimately unsustainable…’”

Even though the Bible prophesies a military confederation of Far Eastern powers (including China and Russia, see next article), it is also clearly revealed that Europe (the revived Babylonian system, compare Revelation 17) will become the most powerful economic bloc in the end time. In light of this, it is not to be expected that China—or any other nation or power bloc—will remotely match Europe’s economic success. Therefore, China’s economy will have to experience a downturn pretty soon. The same goes for the faltering economy of the USA… as the previous article showed.

Chinese and Russian Cooperation

The Pravda wrote on June 16:

“In the past decade, the development of China-Russia ties has made remarkable progress. Political and strategic mutual trust between the two nations have deepened continuously. The two countries have established mechanisms for high-level exchange of visits and all-round cooperation… The two nations have become each other’s major trading partner, and have coordinated closely in dealing with major world and regional affairs…

“Two months ago, the Chinese and Russian [Presidents] met… [and] agreed to further improve cooperation and safeguard common interests… The China-Russia oil pipeline started operation at the beginning of this year, and the fifth round of their strategic security consultations last January was a great success.”

For more information on the Chinese-Russian “political” and “security” cooperation and coalition, please read our free booklet, “Is That in the Bible?—The Mystery of the Book of Revelation.”

Doubts Over Global Warming

The EUObserver wrote on June 22:

“European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso is apparently unconcerned that the chief architect of the EU’s forthcoming multi-annual budget has major doubts over the existence of global warming. Environmental groups are sounding alarm bells however, warning that EU budget commissioner Janusz Lewandowski’s scepticism towards climate change is almost certain to affect his drafting of the crucial EU document which will shape the bloc’s policy for years to come (2014-2020).

“‘There’s an emerging point of view, that the thesis about coal energy as the main cause of global warming is highly doubtful,’ Lewandowski told Polish trade magazine Nowy Przemysl earlier this month. ‘Question marks are appearing ever more frequently over global warming itself,’ added the Polish commissioner, whose country relies on coal for 90 percent of its electricity generation.

“A spokesman for Lewandowski confirmed the accuracy of the statements. ‘His overall line is that it would be impossible for Poland to shift away from coal overnight. But he also expressed his doubts over climate change, in a personal capacity,’ Patrizio Fiorilli told this website.”

Netherland’s Geert Wilders Acquitted

Bloomberg wrote on June 23:

“Dutch Freedom Party Leader Geert Wilders was acquitted by a court of charges that he made remarks defaming Muslims, ending a three-year prosecution that he described as a bid to restrict his freedom of speech. Wilders, 47, was charged with inciting hatred and discrimination and insulting Muslims for calling the Koran ‘fascist’ and comparing it to Adolf Hitler’s book ‘Mein Kampf’ in a 2007 Dutch newspaper editorial. A year later, he released his movie ‘Fitna,’ in which he urged Muslims to rip out ‘hate-preaching’ verses from the book…

“The movie led to protests in Islamic-majority countries including Indonesia and Pakistan and prompted Malaysians to call for a boycott of products from the euro area’s second largest exporter. Wilders, whose party backs the minority Dutch coalition government, has been under constant police protection since a Muslim radical murdered filmmaker Theo van Gogh in 2004… ‘Today is a victory for freedom of speech,’ Wilders said… ‘The Dutch are still allowed to speak critically about Islam, and resistance against Islamization is not a crime.’… The Netherlands has about 850,000 Muslims… Most are of Turkish or Moroccan origin. The country’s population is 16.7 million.”

US Minorities Becoming the Majority

The Guardian wrote on June 23:

“Non-Hispanic white children now make up the minority of babies born in the US for the first time, according to latest census estimates, highlighting demographic changes that could reshape US government policy. Preliminary census estimates also show the share of African-American households headed by women – comprised mostly single mothers – now exceeds African-American households with married couples…

“Demographers say the numbers provide the clearest indication yet that non-white minority groups will become the majority in the US by the middle of the century. Currently non-Hispanic white children make up just under half of all three-year-olds in the US, the youngest age group shown. In 1990 the proportion was more than 60%. Demographer William Frey from the Brookings Institution, which analysed the data, said the data released so far suggested minorities already outnumber whites among babies under two. By contrast non-Hispanic white people make up the vast majority of older Americans – 80% of the over 65s and 73% of those between 45 and 64…

“The census figures come amid heated debate on a number of controversial issues including immigration, gay marriage and the rising cost of welfare benefits. Alabama became the latest state this month to pass a wide-ranging anti-immigration law which requires schools to report their students’ immigration status to the authorities. This follows tough immigration measures passed in similarly Republican-leaning states such as Georgia, Arizona and South Carolina. But Massachusetts, New York and Illinois have all opted out of a federal plan to deport criminals who are not US citizens, saying it has made illegal immigrants afraid of reporting crimes to police. California may also opt out.”