Our lead articles deal with the ongoing Health Care debacle and President Obama’s long-awaited speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 (or 9-9-9, the upside-down version of 6-6-6, according to a statement by CNN). In trying to find a “middle ground” due to the so-called Baucus Bill and opposition from the far left and the right, President Obama resorted to compromise and abrogation of earlier promises during the Presidential Campaign. However, as the Drudge Report stated on September 9, in spite of the President’s efforts, at least “44 more moderate Members of the Democrat Caucus have gone on the record in opposition to the current health care bill in the House, a Hill source claims. Likewise, at least 57 liberal Members of the Democrat Caucus have gone on the record saying they will vote against a health care bill without a strong public option. Unless multiple Democrats flip on their stated position on health care, Speaker Pelosi lacks the votes to pass a bill through the House on the strength of Democrat votes alone.”
On top of that, the “voluntary” resignation of Green Czar Van Jones earlier this week says “much about the Obama White House… marking the latest sacrifice to the political gods after a long summer of compromises and surrenders highlighted the limits of White House power” (Politico, September 6, 2009).
Further articles deal with the German attack in Afghanistan and the national and international condemnation of that action. While Chancellor Merkel strongly supported the attack, the German media expressed the fear that the “public discussion” will do more harm than good; that is, for the relationship between Germany and the USA and NATO, as well as for Afghanistan itself. And although it is being recognized that German military involvement in Afghanistan is highly unpopular in Germany, and that the latest debacle will only increase the demand to withdraw German troops, the opinion is being expressed that such withdrawal would have disastrous consequences for Afghanistan–especially in light of the creation of a new breeding ground for radical Islamists.
What damage a “strict interpretation of Islam” can do to citizens having to live under those repressive restrictions can be seen in developments in Sudan, which sound like reports from the times of barbaric conditions and persecutions in the Middle Ages.
In other news, we report about rifts between the USA and Europe over proposed ridiculous measures by the USA involving overseas travelers; widening rifts between the USA and Israel over new housing settlements; and widening rifts between the USA and Britain over the British-Libyan oil deal. While Britain has denied over the last two weeks that a deal was struck involving purchase of oil for the release of a convicted Libyan mass murderer and terrorist, finally Justice Secretary Jack Straw’s admission of such a deal was grudgingly and reluctantly forthcoming. And even though it is difficult to determine how much we can believe those British politicians who were involved with the deal, the charge by British officials that “Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton were kept informed at all stages of discussions concerning Megrahi’s return” and that the subsequent public U.S. reaction to the release was highly hypocritical, is quite telling.
While China is warning the USA to stop printing more and more dollars and the UN proposes to replace the U.S. Dollar, the Financial Times explains why Germany’s economic “recovery” might actually be bad news for the country and for the entirety of Europe. Mass hysteria in the USA and elsewhere, pertaining to the swine flu “pandemic” and the “need” to get vaccinated, is not matched at all in Germany. There, the overwhelming majority of citizens stated that they would definitely not participate in any mass vaccinations.
Turning to Europe, we are reporting on a very interesting, but widely unknown defense pact–the so-called “Modified Brussels Treaty” from 1954, which is still in force and effect today. It states that if “any of the… contracting parties should be the object of an armed attack in Europe, the other… contracting parties will …afford the party so attacked all the military and other aid and assistance in their power.” This treaty, which reminds us of the existence of a treaty which led to World War I, was adopted and ratified by ten European nations–France, Germany, the UK, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Greece. We need to be aware that irrespective of the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty (which “got past one more stumbling block after the German parliament voted for legislation that would ease the treaty’s ratification”), the Bible shows that ten nations or groups of nations will ultimately rule Europe. THEY will give their power and authority to a military leader, who will invade the Middle East and the Holy Land. Also, the role that Turkey or “Edom” will play in the future should be of some interest.
For more information, please read our free booklets, “Europe in Prophecy,” “The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord,” “Is That in the Bible? The Mysteries of the Book of Revelation!” and “The Book of Zechariah–Prophecies for Today!”
Our last article reports about an astonishing discovery of a lost world in a remote volcanic crater on the Pacific island of Papua New Guinea–populated by fanged frogs, grunting fish and tiny bear-like creatures, as well as, probably, the biggest rat in the world. This shows that there are still unexplored locations on this earth–including our vast oceans–which are populated with previously unknown animal species. Our recent Q&A on the biblical Leviathan addresses this phenomenon in more detail.
