The Changing Face of the USA

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 6:

“History is being written right now in America. That is always exciting. But in this case it is also dramatic. An entire country is changing before our eyes. Though he may not have started it, Donald Trump is the man who is now speeding up and steering this process in a very dangerous direction. Like a bulldozer on a rampage, he is destroying the foundations of this freedom-loving and once so self-assured nation…

“The country seems rotten, like a once mighty tree that is leaning precariously. It remains to be seen if it can weather the gathering storm or will come crashing down. In the eyes of a growing number of voters, the country’s elite, which only thinks of itself, is also rotten. It is an elite that, despite the country’s economic well-being, has starved the middle-class and robbed them of the fruits of their labor. The fact that more and more Americans are growing angry is understandable…

“Trump is the tough guy many people feel could finally change things… By ‘Super Tuesday’ at the latest, it has been clear that Trump’s message is reaching broad swaths of American voters in a way that no other Republican has been able to do, with the possible exception of Ronald Reagan. Women and men, blacks and whites, young and old, rich and poor, in southern as well as northern states: everyone is getting the message.

“Trump’s success says a lot about Americans and about the state of the nation. But what can be inferred from these messages is not good. Not good for America and not good for Germany and America’s other allies.

“The country is changing… Global responsibility is being replaced by nationalist egocentricity…

“At the moment many people are asking ‘why?’ But explanations so far are at best akin to tentative attempts to describe an unknown landscape. Even in Washington, with its corps of political professionals, erudite think tanks, well-traveled diplomats and seasoned journalists, even here there are no answers to be found – only silence.

“… who is to say that this virus will stop at the party’s borders? It is also not a forgone conclusion that Hillary Clinton, should she be her party’s nominee, will be able to derail the increasingly likely Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump.”

The wording is quite interesting about America’s “rottenness” or “sickness,” as this is exactly the terminology used by God about the modern House of Israel—mainly the USA and the UK—as well as the House of Judah (compare Isaiah 1:4-6; 5:24; Hosea 5:12).

Republican Contested Convention in July?

Bloomberg wrote on March 4:

“Donald Trump’s dominant performance on Super Tuesday, which included victories in seven of 11 states, has prompted a swift and sudden shift in strategy among anti-Trump forces within the Republican Party. Rather than narrow the field, many now believe the only way to stop him is for the current candidates to stay in, deny Trump the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination, and force a contested convention in July…

“With no clear nominee, there would be a contested convention in July. If no candidate secures 1,237 votes on the first ballot, many delegates obliged to vote for Trump would be free to back someone else on subsequent ballots… The party hasn’t faced a contested convention since 1976, and it was resolved on the first ballot…

“During a blistering speech Thursday calling Trump ‘a fraud’ who must not be president, Romney all but endorsed the strategy, encouraging major candidates to stay in the race and urging voters to back anyone but Trump…

“Given his broad base of support among voters—young and old, men and women, rich and poor, moderate and conservative—[Trump is] seen as unlikely to be overtaken by any candidate…

“The new strategy to stop Trump hinges heavily on March 15, and requires victories by Rubio and Kasich in their winner-take- all home states—Florida awards 99 delegates and Ohio awards 66 delegates…

“The idea of trying to snag the nomination from Trump at the convention has already proven controversial on the right. Figures like Rupert Murdoch, the executive chairman of Fox News’s parent company 21 First Century Fox, and Republican strategist Alex Castellanos argue that the GOP should rally around Trump if he continues to lead the pack. ‘Trump has earned the nomination,’ Castellanos told the Washington Post Wednesday. ‘He won it, fair and square and we should respect that. Donald Trump whipped the establishment and it is too late for the limp GOP establishment to ask their mommy to step in and rewrite the rules because they were humiliated for their impotence.’

“John McCain, the party’s 2008 nominee, echoed Romney’s criticisms of Trump in a statement on Thursday, and called on Republican voters ‘to think long and hard about who they want to be our next Commander-in-Chief and leader of the free world.’

“If there is a contested convention, the chances of chaos are high…”

It is interesting that both Romney and McCain, previous Republican nominees and prototypes of the Republican establishment, have failed in their past efforts to become President.

Romney the Nominee at Brokered Convention?

The Washington Post wrote on March 6:

“Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, refused Sunday to rule out becoming the nominee again this year at a brokered convention, though he insisted he couldn’t imagine that happening. ‘I don’t think anyone in our party should say, “Oh no, even if the people of the party wanted me to be president, I would say no to it.” No one is going to say that,’ Mr. Romney said on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press.’

“Speculation abounded that Mr. Romney was setting himself up for a surprise nomination last week when he unleashed a brutal denouncement of front-runner Donald Trump, urging voters to support anyone but the billionaire real estate mogul in upcoming primaries to force a contested convention this summer in Cleveland, Ohio.”

Republicans Revolt Against GOP Establishment

The New York Times wrote on March 4:

“From Michigan to Louisiana to California on Friday, rank-and-file Republicans expressed mystification, dismissal and contempt regarding the instructions that their party’s most high-profile leaders were urgently handing down to them: Reject and defeat Donald J. Trump. Their angry reactions, in the 24 hours since Mitt Romney and John McCain urged millions of voters to cooperate in a grand strategy to undermine Mr. Trump’s candidacy, have captured the seemingly inexorable force of a movement that still puzzles the Republican elite and now threatens to unravel the party they hold dear.

“In interviews, even lifelong Republicans who cast a ballot for Mr. Romney four years ago rebelled against his message and plan… The furious campaign now underway to stop Mr. Trump and the equally forceful rebellion against it captured the essence of the party’s breakdown over the past several weeks: Its most prominent guardians, misunderstanding their own voters, antagonize them as they try to reason with them, driving them even more energetically to Mr. Trump’s side…

“Steve Forbes, the publisher and two-time Republican presidential candidate, summed up the mood… ‘Parties,’ he said, ‘don’t usually commit suicide,’ suggesting the party was well on its way with Mr. Trump. The problem, for figures like Mr. Forbes and Mr. Romney, is that Mr. Trump’s supporters seem profoundly uninterested at the moment with the image, expectations or traditions of the Republican Party… They are, in many cases, hostile to it… Voters have not taken kindly to the recommendation [by Mr. Romney], describing the request as a patronizing directive from an elite figure who thoroughly misunderstands their feelings of alienation from the political system…

“Conservative talk radio shows lit up Friday with incensed callers who said they were ‘livid,’ ‘mad’ and ‘on the verge of tears’ as they listened to Mr. Romney scoldingly describe what he called Mr. Trump’s misogyny, vulgarity and dishonesty, and urged them to abandon him… In interviews across the country, Republican voters suggested that Mr. Romney’s move was presumptuous and described him as out of touch and ineffectual… Frustrated Republicans seized on Mr. Romney’s status as a party insider who was insulated from the realities, indignities and rage of average Americans headed to the polls this year…”

Germany’s Vice Chancellor Attacks Trump

The Local wrote March 6:

“Germany’s Vice Chancellor [and economy minister] Sigmar Gabriel said Sunday that US billionaire Donald Trump, frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, poses a threat to peace, social cohesion and prosperity. Gabriel labelled the brash real estate mogul a ‘right-wing populist’ who, like Marine Le Pen of France and Geert Wilders of the Netherlands, promises voters unsettled by globalisation a return to a protected ‘fairytale world’.

“Whether Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen or Geert Wilders—all these right-wing populists are not only a threat to peace and social cohesion but also to economic development,” the centre-left Social Democrat told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.”

Foreign Diplomats Voicing Alarm about Trump

Reuters reported on March 7:

“Foreign diplomats are expressing alarm to U.S. government officials about what they say are inflammatory and insulting public statements by Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, according to senior U.S. officials.

“Officials from Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia have complained in recent private conversations, mostly about the xenophobic nature of Trump’s statements…

“U.S. officials said it was highly unusual for foreign diplomats to express concern, even privately, about candidates in the midst of a presidential campaign. U.S. allies in particular usually don’t want to be seen as meddling in domestic politics, mindful that they will have to work with whoever wins.

“Senior leaders in several countries… have already made public comments criticizing Trump’s positions…

“There are also concerns abroad that the United States would become more insular under Trump, who has pledged to tear up international trade agreements and push allies to take a bigger role in tackling Middle East conflicts. ‘European diplomats are constantly asking about Trump’s rise with disbelief and, now, growing panic,’ said a senior NATO official…”

European Far Right Groups Are Looking at Trump

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 4:

“The list of groups and individuals supporting Donald Trump’s candidacy reads like the Who’s Who of the international extreme right: The leader of the Dutch Freedom Party Geert Wilders, the founder of France’s Front National Jean-Marie Le Pen, the head of Italy’s Lega Nord Matteo Salvini, Greece’s Golden Dawn party, as well as the Ku Klux Klan and the black supremacists of the Nation of Islam in the US… Trump’s radical statements on issues near and dear to the extreme right, such as illegal immigration – but also his delivery and tone – have hit a nerve with Europe’s far right….

“Trump, however, is not supported by all groups on the far right. More established parties, such as Norway’s Progress Party, which is part of the government there, or Denmark’s People’s Party, the country’s second largest party, have distanced themselves from Trump… they deem him simply too controversial and too far to the right.

“That same split is apparent in France, where Trump has been endorsed by the founder of Front National, Jean-Marie Le Pen, but not by his daughter, current Front National leader Marine Le Pen…

“Trump’s status as a political outsider has only added to his appeal among Europe’s far right… Trump is the perfect study in political campaigning in the 21st century… Trump’s efforts at reaching out to particular groups in society, notably the working class and people who feel left behind by globalization can be easily applied to a European context as well.”

Legal Trouble for Hillary Clinton?

LawNewZ reported on March 3:

“The FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server just took a very significant turn, legally speaking… the U.S. Department of Justice (likely through a federal judge) granted immunity to Clinton’s aide Bryan Pagliano who helped set-up her privately maintained email server. We checked in with our legal sources from former federal prosecutors (both Republicans and Democrats) to Washington D.C. insiders, most agree that the immunity deal is a serious step in the FBI’s investigation for several reasons…

“Pagliano’s immunity is likely the result of what’s called a ‘proffer.’ A proffer is an agreement between a prosecutor and a witness to provide information about a crime, with the assurance he won’t be prosecuted. It’s kind of like a sneak peak of what the prosecutors will get if the witness ends up giving testimony… Generally speaking, the government is not going to offer immunity unless the information they are getting in return is beneficial to their investigation…

“However, it is important to note, an immunity deal doesn’t necessarily mean someone will end up getting indicted… While immunity agreements are somewhat routine in federal investigations, not all federal investigations involve the Democratic presidential front runner. So every step along the way does matter… Whether Clinton’s campaign will admit it or not, an immunity deal is, at the very least, a clear indication that the FBI is moving forward with their investigation at a very rapid pace.”

The Latest “Wisdom” of Pope Francis

Newsmax wrote on March 4:

“Pope Francis referred to an ‘Arab invasion’ during a speech to a French Christian group this week, adding that Europe has been enhanced by previous influxes of people. The pontiff also noted that Europe has seen many invasions over the course of its history… Europe has been facing huge waves of migrants and asylum seekers, many of them from Syria and Iraq…

“‘Today we can talk about an Arab invasion,’ the Roman Catholic leader said in the comments dated Thursday. ‘It is a social fact.’

“L’Osservatore Romano reported the pope hastened to add Europe has always been able to ‘go forward and find itself enhanced by the exchange among cultures,’ after saying that Europe is the ‘only continent that can bring about a certain unity to the world.'”

The Bible clearly states that Europe will try to bring unity to the world, but this attempt will end up in chaos and war.

Macedonia Closes Borders

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 9:

“Macedonia has closed its borders completely to migrants, a police official has said. This makes it the fourth nation [in addition to Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia] to do so in just a day, effectively shutting off the path used by many refugees to cross Europe.

“This decision leaves more than 400 people with nowhere to go in a no man’s land between Serbia and Macedonia, refusing to return to Macedonia and barred entry to Serbia.”

German AfD Condemns Cameron

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 9:

“The MEPs from Germany’s populist Alternative für Deutschland (Alternative for Germany) party face expulsion from its conservative alliance in the European Parliament that includes British Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative Party. Following a meeting on Tuesday evening, the European Conservative and Reformists Group (ECR) released a brief statement about its two AfD members Beatrix von Storch and Marcus Pretzell… which read: ‘The ECR Bureau met this evening and has invited the AfD to leave the ECR Group before March 31, otherwise a motion will be tabled to expel them at its next meeting on April 12.’… no reasons were given…

“But von Storch and Pretzell apparently won’t go quietly. In a scathing statement posted on her Facebook page, von Storch condemned the ECR meeting as a ‘farce.’… ‘German and British representatives presented themselves as lackeys of Merkel and Cameron.’…

“The AfD sees the threat… as a cynical strategic move that would benefit… the German chancellor and the British PM – ahead of crucial domestic votes for the two leaders. The AfD is currently polling in double figures in all three states holding regional elections this Sunday – Baden-Württemberg, Saxony-Anhalt and Rhineland-Palatinate – so it could help Merkel to see them damaged in public.

“Meanwhile, Cameron, who is campaigning for Britain to remain in the European Union in a referendum this summer, is likely to be keen to cut ties with the AfD… According to the AfD, Cameron needs a ‘rotten compromise to deceive his voters in the referendum on the Brexit one last time.’ ‘Cameron can’t achieve substantial reforms of the European agreements… So why should he work together with the AfD, the only party in Germany that is working towards substantial reforms of the European agreements?’ The pair also accused the British PM of wanting German tax money to be able to fund ‘short-term referendum gifts’ for British voters.

“The ECR, which represents 75 MEPs, was born of the uncertainty over the EU… The group’s stated aim is ‘urgent reform’ of the EU, while many of the AfD’s positions suggest a complete re-ordering of the bloc. The ECR was founded in 2009 as a more skeptical conservative alternative in the EP to the European People’s Party group (EPP), which includes Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, and which has 216 MEPs.”

German AfD on the Rise

The Local wrote on March 9:

“Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party risks a drubbing at key state elections Sunday as voters punish the German leader for her liberal refugee policy, while the right-wing populist AfD eyes major gains as it scoops up the protest vote. More than 12 million voters are due to elect three new regional parliaments…  in the so-called Super Sunday polls. The elections are the biggest since a record influx of refugees to Germany, and disgruntled voters are expected to seize on the opportunity to hit the ruling coalition where it hurts…

“Merkel has been under intense pressure to change course and shut Germany’s doors after 1.1 million refugees — many of them Syrians — arrived in Europe’s biggest economy last year alone. But she has resolutely refused to impose a cap on arrivals, insisting instead on common European action that includes distributing refugees among the EU’s 28 member states… public opinion towards her stance was divided, and AfD has capitalised on the darkening mood…

“In what could be a preview of Sunday’s polls, local election results published Monday in Hesse show support for AfD reaching 13.2 percent, propelling it to become the third biggest party in the western state. Although the upstart party has seats in five regional parliaments and is represented in the European Parliament, it has so far made its biggest gains in former communist eastern states that still lag western Germany in jobs and prosperity. But its inroads into western states have sparked alarm in a Germany mindful of its Nazi past…

“Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel warned voters that ‘we have a lot to lose if we deal carelessly with social stability and democracy’. Merkel herself described AfD as a ‘party that does not bring society together and offers no appropriate solutions to problems, but only stokes prejudices and divisions’, while Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble branded them a ‘shame for Germany’.

“Some 142 civic groups, including police unions, Jewish and Muslim organisations and aid groups, also published a joint appeal urging voters to turn up at the polls as a show of strength ‘against all forms of hate, racism, prejudices or violence’.”

Somehow, this fight of the German political establishment against the AdF reminds us of and seems to mirror the fight of the American Republican establishment against Donald Trump.  

Is ECB Chief Mario Draghi to Be Fired?

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 10:

“He’s done it again. Believe it or not, ECB chief Mario Draghi has lowered interest rates yet again. The benchmark refinancing rate now stands at zero-point-zero percent, meaning the expropriation of savers isn’t only continuing – it’s getting worse.

“The central bank’s controversial asset-purchasing program will be expanded. Instead of buying bonds worth 60 billion euros ($66.8 billion) per month, the ECB is now going to purchase 80 million euros’ worth. The program will now also entail buying corporate bonds. The bogus monetary policy of Mario Draghi continues.

“The problem for Europe’s top guardian of the euro is that none of his previous measures has had a tangible, positive impact. On the contrary, inflation, which Draghi has wanted to push up by printing more and more money, still hovers around zero. And the eurozone economy isn’t really picking up much either…

“The owners of the huge amount of cheap money available have been looking for other ways to invest as you can’t just let it rest under your pillow. The result is that big bubbles are in the process of forming, whether in the real estate market, the art market or elsewhere.

“So, what exactly is pushing Draghi to pump even more money into markets, if his plan has failed miserably thus far?… And why does he stubbornly stick to an inflation target of little under 2 percent? It pretty much looks like an artificial target now…

“What Draghi is doing comes close to running amok. Cheap money destroys trust in the long term and makes people addicted. It also prompts eurozone governments to delay required reforms. The patient isn’t healed automatically by administering a greater dose of the same medication. The redistribution of money from the north to the south is continuing.

“For highly indebted eurozone nations such as Spain, Portugal or Greece, Draghi’s policy is a blessing. For the eurozone as a whole the iceberg is approaching the eurozone’s Titanic fast… the Italian would be well-advised to take his leave soon.”

EU Deal with Turkey Under Attack

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 9:

“EU parliamentarians across party lines have expressed grave reservations about a deal aimed at curbing migration to Europe. Many questioned whether the agreement with Ankara violated international conventions…

“The EU-Turkey deal lauded by German Chancellor Angela Merkel as a possible ‘breakthrough’ in the refugee crisis met with sometimes massive criticism after being presented to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday. The deal… would see Ankara take back migrants and asylum seekers trying to cross to Europe. In return, the EU would resettle one Syrian refugee for everyone that had been forced to return to Turkish soil.

“In addition, Turkey is to receive billions of euros in financial aid to care for the migrants and refugees, and has been promised additional concessions such as visa-free access to the EU for Turkish citizens… Some EU parliamentarians slammed the agreement with Turkey as an inhuman trade-off…

“Guy Verhofstadt, the president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group…  said the deal gave Erdogan ‘the keys to the gates of Europe’… [He] said the agreement meant that Turkey had too much control over who was classed as a refugee and thus allowed to enter the EU. A Kurd from Iraq, for example, could be denied access to the EU… He also predicted that the deal would backfire, with migrants looking for other routes to the EU, such as through Italy, Albania, Malta or Bulgaria.

“Parliamentarians also warned about giving too many concessions to Turkey and its increasingly authoritarian president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, under fire for recent government takeovers of opposition media and attacks on Kurds [note the next article].

“Several conservative politicians, on the other hand, supported the plan.”

Turmoil in Turkey after Government’s Dictatorial Measures Against Freedom of Press and Religion

Reuters reported on March 5:

“Turkish police fired tear gas and rubber bullets on Saturday to disperse protesters outside the country’s biggest newspaper [“Zaman”] after authorities seized control of it in a crackdown on a religious group whose leader the government accuses of treason.

“A court on Friday appointed an administrator to run [Zaman]… Rights groups and European officials condemned the takeover, seeing it as proof the government silences dissident views… European Parliament President Martin Schulz tweeted the takeover was ‘yet another blow to press freedom’…

“In Berlin, Norbert Roettgen, chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the German Bundestag and a senior lawmaker in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, said: ‘Not only the violent action against a critical newspaper, but also the fact that the government takes over the whole paper is a severe blow by the Turkish leadership against the freedom of press.’

“Critics have accused the European Union of largely turning a blind eye to Turkey’s worsening rights record because it needs its help curbing the record flow of refugees and migrants…

“Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the raid on Zaman and its sister publications amounted to a ‘government takeover.’ It is ‘nothing but a veiled move by the president to eradicate opposition media and scrutiny of government policies,’ said Emma Sinclair-Webb, HRW’s senior Turkey researcher.”

God does not have many good things to say about end-time Turkey, biblical Edom.

Big Brother not only in Turkey: FBI Spying on US School Children

Salon wrote on March 6:

“Under new guidelines, the FBI is instructing high schools across the country to report students who criticize government policies and ‘western corruption’ as potential future terrorists, warning that ‘anarchist extremists’ are in the same category as ISIS and young people who are poor, immigrants or travel to ‘suspicious’ countries are more likely to commit horrific violence.

“Based on the widely unpopular British ‘anti-terror’ mass surveillance program, the FBI’s ‘Preventing Violent Extremism in Schools’ guidelines, released in January, are almost certainly designed to single out and target Muslim-American communities. However, in its caution to avoid the appearance of discrimination, the agency identifies risk factors that are so broad and vague that virtually any young person could be deemed dangerous and worthy of surveillance, especially if [he or] she is socio-economically marginalized or politically outspoken. This overwhelming threat is then used to justify a massive surveillance apparatus, wherein educators and pupils function as extensions of the FBI by watching and informing on each other.

“The FBI’s justification for such surveillance is based on McCarthy-era theories of radicalization, in which authorities monitor thoughts and behaviors that they claim to lead to acts of violent subversion, even if those people being watched have not committed any wrongdoing. This model has been widely discredited as a violence prevention method, including by the U.S. government, but it is now being imported to schools nationwide as official federal policy…

“According to the FBI’s educational materials for teenagers, circulated as a visual aide to their new guidelines, the following offenses constitute signs that ‘could mean that someone plans to commit violence’ and therefore should be reported: … ‘Using several different cell phones and private messaging apps’; and ‘Studying or taking pictures of potential targets (like a government building).’…

“‘Animal Rights Extremists and Environmental Extremists’ are placed alongside ‘white supremacy extremists’, ISIS and Al Qaeda as terrorists out to recruit high school students. The materials also instruct students to watch out for extremist propaganda messages that communicate criticisms of ‘corrupt western nations’ and express ‘government mistrust.’…

“The agency warns that online gaming ‘is sometimes used to communicate, train, or plan terrorist activities.’ Encryption, ominously referred to as ‘going dark,’ is often used to facilitate ‘extremism discussions,’ the agency states. In reality, encryption is a commonly used form of protection against government spying and identity theft and is often employed to safeguard financial transactions…

“The document and supplementary educational materials warn of a broad array of threats, including anti-abortion and white supremacist extremists. The Jewish Defense League is listed alongside Hizbollah and Al Qaeda as an imminent danger to young people in the United States… Cultural and religious differences, as well as criticisms of western imperialism, are repeatedly mentioned as risk factors for future extremism…”

This mass surveillance plan reminds us of dictatorial practices in Nazi Germany or in former East Germany under Russian control. The Obama Administration’s claim of preserving liberty and freedom has become a joke… and a dangerous one at that. At the same time, deeply disturbing comments from the Republican side are also of grave concern.

FBI’s Case Against Apple Fraudulent?

The Guardian wrote on March 9:

“Edward Snowden, the whistleblower whose NSA revelations sparked a debate on mass surveillance, has waded into the arguments over the FBI’s attempt to force Apple to help it unlock the iPhone 5C of one of the San Bernardino shooters. The FBI says that only Apple can deactivate certain passcode protections on the iPhone, which will allow law enforcement to guess the passcode by using brute-force.

“Talking via video link from Moscow to the Common Cause Blueprint for a Great Democracy conference, Snowden said: ‘The FBI says Apple has the ‘exclusive technical means’ to unlock the phone. Respectfully, that’s bull…’

“Snowden then went on to tweet his support for an American Civil Liberties Union report saying that the FBI’s claims in the case are fraudulent.”

In its report from March 7, the ACLU explained that the FBI could easily unlock the iPhone, concluding that the FBI was acting fraudulently:

“The FBI wants us to think that this case is about a single phone, used by a terrorist. But it’s a power grab: law enforcement has dozens of other cases where they would love to be able to compel software and hardware providers to build, provide, and vouch for [a] deliberately weakened code… If they win, future software updates will present users with a troubling dilemma. When we’re asked to install a software update, we won’t know whether it was compelled by a government agency (foreign or domestic), or whether it truly represents the best engineering our chosen platform has to offer.

“In short, they’re asking the public to grant them significant new powers that could put all of our communications infrastructure at risk, and to trust them to not misuse these powers. But they’re deliberately misleading the public (and the judiciary) to try to gain these powers. This is not how a trustworthy agency operates. We should not be fooled.”

Nancy Reagan Died

NBC News wrote on March 6:

“Nancy Reagan, one of the most high-profile and influential first ladies of the 20th century, has died. She was 94.  The cause of death was congestive heart failure… ‘We remain grateful for Nancy Reagan’s life, thankful for her guidance, and prayerful that she and her beloved husband are together again,’ President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama said in a statement. Barbara Bush, another influential former first lady, said in a statement: ‘Nancy Reagan was totally devoted to President Reagan, and we take comfort that they will be reunited once more. George and I send our prayers and condolences to her family.’…

“Reagan was an actress when she met Ronald Reagan in the early 1950s, then an actor and president of the Screen Actors Guild, according to a White House bio… They wed on March 4, 1952. Daughter Patti was born in October of that year and son Ron followed in 1958. Reagan already had a daughter, Maureen, and an adopted son, Michael, from his marriage to actress Jane Wyman.  Their marriage lasted 52 years, until Ronald Reagan’s death in 2004.

“While Ronald Reagan was governor of California from 1967 to 1975, Nancy Reagan worked with numerous charitable groups, and spent hours visiting veterans, the elderly, and the emotionally and physically handicapped… When her husband became president of the United States, First Lady Reagan continued her interest in these groups, and arguably became best known for her ‘Just Say No’ program fighting against drug abuse among youth.

“When Ronald was shot in 1981 by a would-be assassin, Nancy rushed to his side immediately, and later endured his nearly decade-long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. In recent years she broke with fellow Republicans in backing stem cell research as a way to possibly find a cure for Alzheimer’s.”

Newsmax added on March 6:

“As Reagan’s wife, political partner and adviser, she became one of America’s most potent first ladies…  Some critics lambasted Nancy Reagan as a meddlesome ‘dragon lady,’ derided her anti-drug campaign and ridiculed her for consulting an astrologer to schedule presidential events.

“President Reagan called this view of his wife ‘despicable fiction,’ saying in 1987: ‘The idea that she is involved in governmental decisions and so forth and all of this, and being a kind of dragon lady – there is nothing to that.'”

Vaccination Requirements in Jewish Camps

Even though taking the “politically correct” approach that vaccinations for children is a “must,” JTA nevertheless admits the following in its article of March 3 [we omitted the article’s polemic comments and those highly disputable opinions from doctors of the drug industry requiring vaccinations]:

“Some Jewish camps… stick to state vaccination laws, many allowing for personal or religious exemptions. California… joined West Virginia and Mississippi as one of only three states that outlaw personal or religious vaccine exemptions after passing a contested bill last summer… In 2014, the prominent Orthodox Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetzky called vaccines a ‘hoax.’ JTA found last year that a range of private Jewish day schools had low student vaccination rates due to the personal or religious exemption [beliefs]…

“Tamarack Camps’ announcement [not to allow any unvaccinated children to attend their camps] immediately started an online dispute. Dr. David Brownstein, the medical director of the Center for Holistic Medicine in West Bloomfield, Michigan — the upscale heart of Detroit’s Jewish community  — called the policy ‘draconian’ in a blog post the next day. ‘Perhaps Camp Tamarack is unaware that over $3 billion has been awarded by the Federal Government to children and adults injured by vaccines,’ Brownstein wrote. ‘I would like to see where Jewish law says it is safe to inject a neurotoxin into a baby or any living being.’…

“Tamarack Camps’ decision also caused a bit of a stir in and around the metro Detroit Jewish community. Dr. Kathy Erlich, a Jewish pediatrician against strict vaccine laws who worked in the camp’s medical clinic, resigned. And Miller, who wrote about Tamarack’s decision for Time, said at least one family left the camp over the policy.”

“Israel’s First Transgender Beauty Pageant Slated for May”

JTA wrote on March 3, 2016:

“Nearly 30 transgender Jews and Arabs auditioned Thursday at a Tel Aviv club for a place in the Miss Trans Israel pageant… Finalists will compete at a pageant in May, and the winner will represent Israel at the Miss Trans Star International pageant to be held in Spain in August.

“Israel is widely considered the most gay-friendly country in the Middle East, and gays openly serve in its military… at least one openly transgender soldier is currently serving in the Israel Defense Forces.

“However, in the halls of government, gay Israelis have long faced a firewall of religious parties that have blocked pro-LGBT legislation. Gay couples cannot marry, adopt children or have surrogate pregnancies in Israel, though the government does recognize adoptions and gay marriages performed abroad.”

New Survey on Divided Israel

JTA wrote on March 8:

“Coming just three years after Pew’s much-discussed study of Jewish-Americans, the Israel study depicts a country divided by religion and ethnicity, where Jews of opposing religious outlooks rarely associate and marriages that cross the Jewish-Arab divide almost never happen.

“Israel is 81 percent Jewish and 19 percent non-Jewish, according to the survey. Among the Jews, half are secular…

“Forty-eight percent of Jewish-Israelis agreed or strongly agreed with the statement ‘Arabs should be expelled or transferred from Israel.’ Slightly fewer (46 percent) disagreed or strongly disagreed. Support for removal draws largely from right-wing Israelis. Almost three-quarters (72 percent) of self-identified right-wing Jews agreed that Arabs should leave Israel, as did 71 percent of religious Zionists and 59 percent of the haredi Orthodox. Among left-wing Jews, 10 percent said yes to forcible transfer…

“Sixty-one percent of Jewish-Americans say ‘Israel and an independent Palestinian state can coexist peacefully,’ according to Pew’s 2013 survey, while only 43 percent of Jewish-Israelis feel similarly. Sixty-one percent of Jewish-Israelis say God gave Israel to the Jews, a view that even 51 percent of non-Orthodox Israelis endorsed. Only 40 percent of Jewish-Americans agree…

“Israelis are also more religious than Jewish-Americans. More than a quarter of Israelis attend weekly services, compared to about one-tenth of the Americans. Half of Jewish-Israelis believe in God with absolute certainty, compared to one-third of Jewish-Americans, and nearly half of Jewish-Israelis don’t handle money on Shabbat, while almost all Jewish-Americans do…

“Israelis vary widely in their religious observance. Most religious Israelis pray daily, while their secular counterparts can go years without setting foot in a synagogue. One quarter of Jewish-Israelis say they observe no religious traditions… Nearly all Jewish-Israelis attend a Passover seder and almost two-thirds keep a kosher home, including one-third of secular Israelis. By contrast, only 22 percent of Jewish-Americans keep a kosher kitchen. Four-fifths of Israelis, including two-thirds of secular Jews, refrain from eating pork. Nearly half of Israel’s Russian-speaking Jews (47 percent) do eat pork…

“On the whole, Jewish-Israelis maintain a broad definition of who is a Jew. Solid majorities believe someone can deny God’s existence, work on Shabbat, harshly criticize Israel and still be Jewish. But an overwhelming majority draws the line at believing in Jesus as the messiah. Only 18 percent of Jewish-Israelis — and 19 percent of haredim — say a Jew can believe in Jesus and remain Jewish. In the United States, fully one-third of Jews say belief in Jesus is compatible with being Jewish…”

As JTA reported on March 8, the survey has been strongly criticized by governmental officials and others as being inaccurate, but Alan Cooperman, the Pew study’s lead author, stands by the results.

Shocking–Scientific Paper Being Retracted because of Reference to the “Creator”

The Independent wrote on March 4:

“The paper… was written by a team of four researchers, three from Huazhong University in China, and one from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. Published in the PLOS ONE journal, the fairly conventional study looked at the mechanics of how we grasp things, and involved the measurement of the hand movements of 30 participants…

“In the opening sentences of the study, it claims the link between muscles and hand movements is the product of ‘proper design by the Creator.’ Later, it says human hand coordination ‘should indicate the mystery of the Creator’s invention,’ and concludes by again claiming the mechanical architecture of the hand is the result of ‘proper design by the Creator.’

“Naturally, the multiple references to intelligent design in a reputable journal like PLOS ONE have stoked anger in the scientific community, and many people, including researchers who work as editors for the publication, are now calling for it to be retracted…”

The Independent then published the following Update:

“The journal has now announced the paper will be retracted.

“Commenting on the website, it wrote: ‘The PLOS ONE editors have followed up on the concerns raised about this publication… In light of the concerns identified, the PLOS ONE editors have decided to retract the article, the retraction is being processed and will be posted as soon as possible. We apologize for the errors and oversight leading to the publication of this paper.'”

This is again ample testimony of a God-defying abominable practice of scientists and the influence which they have on gullible people.  A world, being held captive by Satan, is of course not permitted to consider the possibility that God might have created man. In God’s inspired and infallible book, the Bible, it is declared that those scientists are “fools” and lack spiritual discernment and understanding, and we are warned not to believe their false and blasphemous teachings of the atheistic or agnostic hypothesis of evolution.

Does It Pay to Beg?

Daily Mail reported on March 4:

“The next time you’re despairing at the state of the world, here’s what you need to do. Catch a train to Wolverhampton, and sit down on a patch of damp pavement opposite the church of St Peter’s Collegiate. You’ll need to wrap up warm, and remember to bring a plastic cup. Make yourself a cardboard sign, nothing fancy, then go and sit cross-legged and wait. Within minutes, your spirits will be lifted by the overflowing milk of human kindness.

“That’s what I did on Thursday, following reports that a beggar in the West Midlands town was earning £300 to £500 a day. I couldn’t believe this to be true. In London, maybe, but Wolverhampton? Where the average salary is £18,500? Ridiculous! Yet no sooner had I plonked myself down at 7.50am than I saw how it might be possible…

“You may think me cynical — a London professional posing as homeless. But I was genuinely trying to understand why people with homes — and presumably with a fighting chance of getting a job — instead choose to beg in the cold. And, of course, all the money I raised has gone to a local Wolverhampton homeless charity (I paid for breakfast myself).

“Of course, many homeless people have genuine reasons for being on the streets. They often have dreadful background stories — drug addiction, domestic abuse, mental health issues and countless other problems. But there is a worrying rise in rogue beggars, people who aren’t actually rough sleeping, who have dawned upon the depressing truth that you can make more money on the streets than toiling away for the minimum wage of £6.70 an hour.

“This week, it was reported that only one in five beggars is genuinely homeless, while many are doing it to top up their benefits or even incomes from work. The Mail ran a story about a man who was caught on film clambering back into his £40,000 Audi sportscar, after a day begging in Newquay, Cornwall. In another case, a conman pretended to be an ex-paratrooper to earn £5,000 over six months by begging in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, last year. One woman admitted begging after leaving her office job each day to pay for a new kitchen. Then there’s the claim by a local Labour councillor that one beggar pretending to be homeless was making up to £500 a day — the equivalent of £2,500 a week — on the streets of Wolverhampton…

“The advice from experts and homeless charities is typically not to give money to beggars as it perpetuates the root problems of alcohol, drugs and dependency. John Bird, the founder of the Big Issue, wrote very passionately in this paper how giving money ‘locks the beggar in a continuing downward spiral of abject dependency and victimhood, where all self-respect, honesty and hope are lost.’ Mr Bird, who has dedicated his life to helping Britain’s homeless — estimated to number 3,569 — is no doubt right…

“I’m sorry to say, begging involves a lot of deception. For example, if you have raised enough money to buy yourself breakfast after just ten minutes, you can’t truthfully carry on claiming to be hungry… One bizarre man came over to loiter with me, moaning that he was being kept waiting in the cold by a student he was due to meet. He then said he was going to a gay bar later on. Perhaps he thought I was a rent boy. I shuddered to think what might happen to vulnerable young men in this situation. I shuffled off, fast… at the rate of money I was making — £12-£13 an hour — I’d have enough to check into a hotel by the evening, and buy myself a decent bottle of Cabernet Shiraz…”

John Kerry Under Attack for His Pro-EU Stance in Britain

The Daily Mail wrote on February 28:

“Barack Obama’s foreign policy chief is a one-time IRA sympathiser unfit to tell Britain to stay in the EU, Eurosceptic Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has claimed. Mr Rees-Mogg, a leading ‘Out’ campaigner, sparked a diplomatic row by accusing US Secretary of State John Kerry of having harboured sympathies for suspected terrorists. The claim comes after Mr Kerry intervened in the referendum debate by saying the US had a ‘profound interest’ in the UK staying in the EU.

“But speaking with the protection of Parliamentary privilege, Mr Rees-Mogg told MPs that Mr Kerry had showed himself to be a ‘terrorist sympathiser’ when he held up a treaty in the mid-1980s allowing for the deportation of IRA activists from the US to the UK. ‘He is no friend of Britain,’ Mr Rees-Mogg said…

“Last night, Mr Rees-Mogg said: ‘You have to remember this debate about delaying extradition took place in the shadow of the IRA’s attempt at the wholesale murder of the British Government in the Brighton bombing.’ Last night, the State Department in Washington declined to comment on the row. An official said: ‘The UK’s relationship with the EU is a question for the British people and the British Government.’”

BBC Not Impartial

The Sun wrote on February 28:

“Leading Eurosceptics say [BBC] is at serious risk of breaching its rules of impartiality… Tory MP Andrew Bridgen… said: ‘The BBC is emerging as a cheerleader for those who want to remain in the EU.’ Fellow Tory Steve Baker, founder of Conservatives for Britain, added: ‘It is essential for democracy and the credibility of the BBC that our state broadcaster is, and is seen to be, scrupulously impartial.’… Mr Bridgen also claims the BBC has ‘crossed the line’ from impartial reporting to editorial comment… Mr Bridgen called on the BBC to provide full details of how it intends to uphold impartiality so the public can have ‘utmost faith in its integrity’… Mr Bridgen insisted: ‘The BBC and the EU have much in common. Both have an unhealthy air of entitlement to huge amounts of taxpayers’ money, they resent scrutiny of their affairs, they are both unaccountable and undemocratic.’…”

The BBC may be following the lead of American broadcasters, where you can find virtually NO impartial and objective reporting. It is appalling and deeply troublesome how big manipulating institutions such as CNN, NBC, FOX NEWS or MSNBC have been taking political sides for parties and candidates in the presidential campaigns. A distinction between “reporting,” “editorializing” and even “endorsing” can hardly be found.

Brexit Bombshell

Express wrote on February 29:

“Most of England wants to see an end to EU supremacy over the UK according to a landmark survey gauging the mood of the nation ahead of the upcoming in/out referendum. The bombshell research will send shockwaves through Westminster and is a crushing blow to Mr Cameron’s pro-Brussels campaign, which has been beset by PR gaffes and accusations of fearmongering. Respected pollsters YouGov asked 80,000 Britons how they intend to vote in the referendum on Britain’s membership, to take place on June 23.

“Their shock results show that the further south in Britain you live the more likely it is that you are a Eurosceptic, with most of England now backing a Brexit. Many of the most densely populated parts of the UK are staunchly in favour of severing ties with Brussels…

“In contrast more pro-EU areas, including Scotland and Wales, have much smaller populations in comparison… There has also been a surge in anti-EU feeling in England’s eastern counties, Wales and the south-west…

“Brexit support is also strong in the more wealthy Tory counties of England like Suffolk, Somerset and Lincolnshire, showing that a concensus is now building behind the case to get Britain out of the EU. On the other hand, areas most supportive of the EU were found in metropolitan areas, Scotland and university cities… The most pro-EU area of Britain was Ceredigion in Wales while Scotland was by far the most pro-EU country in the UK.”

Switzerland To Withdraw Application for EU Membership

The Daily Mail wrote on March 2:

“Switzerland’s parliament has voted to withdraw its long-standing application for membership of the EU – amid a deepening row about migration. The country’s National Council has backed a symbolic motion to retract the country’s 24-year-old bid to join what was then the European Economic Community (EEC).

“Lukas Reimann from the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) argued it was ‘high time’ to make the move, as the country is battling with the European Commission about restricting free movement. He secured the support of 126 out of 200 deputies in the lower house in the vote on Tuesday, and the decision will be reviewed by the senate in the coming months.

“Mr Reimann said Switzerland should no longer be treated as a [country] which wanted to join the EU. Switzerland has never been a member of EU but has enjoyed free trade with the bloc since the 1970s by accepting most of its laws. It accepts free movement of people and is also a member of the Schengen borderless travel zone… it has a web of some 120 agreements with the EU, but its access to the single market does not include financial services hence many Swiss banks are based in London to access the single market…

“Unlike Switzerland, Norway and Iceland are members of the European Economic Area, with full access to the single market. Norwegian prime minister Erna Solberg yesterday indicated she was perfectly happy to be outside the EU after a holding a meeting with Commission president Jean Claude Juncker in Brussels…”

The Iranian Vote—Changes Ahead?

Deutsche Welle reported on February 29:

“The government said on Monday that officials had finished counting the votes… Rouhani and his close ally former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani won 15 out of 16 seats in Tehran for the Assembly of Experts…

“Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati was the only conservative hard-liner to make it to the council from Tehran. The cleric is also the chairman of the Guardian Council, which disqualified several reformist leaders from contesting Friday’s polls. Jannati is considered one of the strongest critics of Rouhani’s reform program.

“Rafsanjani was expected to take over as head of the 88-member body, which chooses the country’s supreme leader. The post is currently held by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The reformists also won all 30 seats representing Tehran in the 290-member parliament.

“Moderates have also gained seats and could team up with Rouhani’s supporters to outnumber conservatives opposed to Iran’s nuclear concessions. Signed last year, that agreement helped end crippling sanctions against Iran and open its markets to foreign businesses. Observers said the former president and Rouhani were likely to reduce the influence of conservatives in the council and in Iran’s politics in general.

“Iran’s official broadcaster reported that the results heralded ‘the end of the presence of a powerful majority in the parliament that overshadowed [the] decision-making apparatus in the country over the past decade.’”

This rather “optimistic” report of wishful thinking is off-set by the following cautionary and more “realistic” article.

The Times of Israel wrote on February 29:

“The unequivocal victory of Iran’s ‘moderate’ camp in Friday’s elections to the Majlis [parliament] and the Assembly of Experts is a resounding victory for two people: President Hassan Rouhani, who, pundits have already noted, faced in these elections a key test of his public support, and former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

“Rafsanjani, 81, is the phoenix of Iranian politics, returning time and again from the political wilderness as one of the strongest and most cunning in that world. Despite countless attempts by the conservative establishment of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to isolate him and distance him from the centers of power, Rafsanjani has schooled Khamenei and his supporters in political maneuvering. If he were a Western statesman, an entire season of ‘House of Cards’ would surely have been devoted to him…

“In Friday’s elections, Rafsanjani secured a majority in the Assembly of Experts, which will select Khamenei’s successor as supreme leader…

“Beyond the personal and petty political rivalries, however, the election results are clearly an expression of support by the Iranian public for last year’s nuclear deal and the promise of a new openness to the West… the Iranian public yearns for more of that ‘Western influence’ against which conservatives have so ominously warned… the primary driver of this new desire for openness is the economy…

“Two caveats should be made here: First, Rafsanjani, Rouhani and their allies in the ‘moderate’ camp are devotees of Iran’s revolutionary regime. They do not want a coup or a revolution, but rather the preservation of the Iranian system. Both were involved in past campaigns against ‘enemies of the regime.’

“Second, with all due respect to Iranian politics and ‘democracy,’ the conservative establishment is not defeated. Far from it. They, too, have shown that they have phoenix-like powers. The conservative ayatollahs and Khamenei have no intention of raising a white flag or quietly fading into the night. They and their allies in the Revolutionary Guards will continue to influence Iran’s foreign policy, its Middle East wars and its deployment of terror groups in various countries.

“And Friday’s triumphant ‘moderates’ will be there to help the Guards obtain ever larger funding — made possible by the very openness to the West that so troubles them. The real battle is just beginning. The conservative establishment won’t abandon the field so quickly. This is still revolutionary Iran, the same one that operates so many terror cells across the globe.”

Iraq’s Looming Catastrophe

Express wrote on February 29:

“America has warned of an ‘unprecedented catastrophe’ which could see millions killed if a crumbling dam near an Islamic State stronghold collapses. The resulting ‘tsunami-like wave’ would crush nearly a third of Iraq, flatten major cities and wipe out hundreds of thousands of those living under ISIS control. Health officials have been unable to evacuate many of those in immediate threat as they reside under the control of the evil caliphate, also known as Daesh.

“The US embassy in Baghdad said long-running disrepair meant ‘approximately 500,000 to 1.47 million people living along the Tigris’ would probably not survive the impact of the projected flood wave unless they evacuated. A breach in the country’s biggest dam would unleash an ‘inland tidal wave’ which could reach tens of feet in height and knock out Iraq’s entire power grid. Parts of the ISIS stronghold Mosul could be under 45 feet of water within hours of a dam breach. The flood water would even reach Baghdad within three days and bring chaos to the Iraqi capital with ‘increased health hazards, limited to no mobility, and losses of homes, buildings, and services’…

“The 3.2-kilometer-long Mosul Dam holds back as much as 12.5 million cubic meters of water… A report dating back to 2006 even described the structure ‘the most dangerous dam in the world’. Repair works at the dam, built in 1984, have been neglected amid ongoing instability in the region. ISIS militants seized the dam in August 2014 but US airstrikes helped Kurdish and Iraqi forces take back control of it the same month. However, Mosul still remains in the hands of the militant terror group…

“Iraq’s own prime minister has tried to play down the risk of a breach at the country’s largest dam, calling the possibility ‘unlikely’ and insisting ‘the situation is under control’… But the Iraqi government has issued their own ‘instruction manual’ informing citizens about the likelihood of the dam collapsing and advising them what to do in the event that it did. An advisor to the office of PM revealed a collapse of the Mosul Dam would be ‘a thousand times worse’ than the impact of Hurricane Katrina… ‘there is a nightmare scenario that Daesh could itself strike the dam as they withdraw from Mosul.’”

Germany Declares Passports Invalid

Deutsche Welle reported on February 27:

“The Interior Ministry has confirmed travel documents issued from territory controlled by ‘Islamic State’ are no longer valid forms of ID. Nearly three quarters of migrants arriving to Germany in 2015 had no documents.  The measure went into effect in December as concern mounted that ‘IS’ had taken over public administrative functions and obtained vast quantities of blank documents.

“The rule impacts both Iraqis and Syrians who possess travel documents issued after January 1, 2015 in territory controlled by ‘IS’ in Syria in Iraq, the Interior Ministry said… Europe has been on high-alert for jihadists disguised as refugees using false documents following last November’s Paris terror attacks, in which Syrian passports were found on the bodies of two men. The black market for Syrian passports remains rife…

“Passport holders from ‘IS’ controlled areas will still be able to apply for asylum in Germany, but similar to other refugees must prove their identity and country of citizenship.”

Germany Ignorant of Whereabouts of 130,000 Migrants

AFP wrote February 26:

“German authorities do not know the whereabouts of 130,000 asylum seekers, the government said in a parliamentary document seen by AFP on Friday. Out of some 1.1 million asylum seekers registered in 2015, ‘about 13 percent did not turn up at the reception centres to which they had been directed,’ the government said in a written reply to a question from a lawmaker of the Left Party…

“A spokesman for the interior ministry said a package of new measures approved by parliament on Thursday is expected to help address the problem. These include plans for an identity document to be issued upon the arrival of a migrant… [They also include]  restricting family reunions for some migrants…”

Der Spiegel Online reported on February 29, that according to new polls from January, Angela Merkel gained some support. Her approval rate stands now at 54 percent. Most popular politician is Frank-Walter Steinmeier with a 70 % approval rate, followed by Wolfgang Schaueble with 66 %. However, these figures don’t mean much. When the migrant crisis continues and intensifies, as it surely will, Merkel’s approval rate will again decrease dramatically—and quickly.

In addition, and quite contradictorily, 59 percent of Germans disagree with Merkel regarding her migrant policy, and only 32 percent think that a solution can be reached in the foreseeable future. These 32 percent must be living on a different planet.

The Great Wall of Europe… It Will Get Much Worse

Express wrote on February 29:

“Finland has warned it expects the number of asylum applications to surge in 2016. It comes after Hungary prime minister Viktor Orban described the European Union’s response to the crisis as ‘absurd’ saying it was making no effort to thwart the influx… And Greek leaders warned the block’s policy to the problem was creating a ‘graveyard of souls’ in the south European country. It has taken in thousands more refugees fleeing Middle East warzones…

“Hungary’s Orban announced plans to build an enormous wall sealing his country off from southern Europe.

“Violence erupted across the Calais Jungle camp today as French authorities continued to demolish the camp to reduce its population from some 6,000 to 1,000 migrants. Riot police used tear gas to break up the riots as fires burned across the camp.”

Express wrote on March 2:

“Europe is facing a mass migration time bomb with a visa-free travel deal for Turkish citizens set to unleash an ‘uncountable influx’ on the continent, a top German politician has warned. Johannes Singhammer, vice-president of the Bundestag said there are ‘serious considerations’ about the prospective visa-free regime, because it would open ‘a gateway for further immigration and a flow of refugees to Germany.’

“He said that German consulates in Turkey are already issuing a staggering 200,000 visas a year for free travel in the Schengen zone and that number is now set to explode when the agreement comes into force in October…

“Mr Singhammer’s warning comes days after Mr Erdogan threatened to put millions of refugees on buses and planes to western Europe unless EU leaders handed over more money to host migrants arriving from Syria…

“Hungary’s no-nonsense president Viktor Orban has also slammed the deal, saying: ‘Brussels is making promises to the Turks that we can’t keep – or don’t want to keep. The plan to take in hundreds of thousands of refugees from Turkey and distribute them across Europe is an illusion.’”

Humanitarian Crisis in Greece

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 2:

“Thousands of migrants, many fleeing war in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, have been stranded in Idomeni by Macedonia’s decision to allow only a handful of asylum seekers with identification papers from Syria and Iraq [after several European nations decided to block passage to refugees].

“Wednesday marked the first time in two days that refugees were allowed to cross the frontier following an incident in which Macedonian police fired tear gas at protesting migrants attempting to force their way through the border fence…

“UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Flemming said on Wednesday that the decision taken by Macedonia and other European countries to limit the migration flow has resulted in some 25,000 people stranded in Greece… around 1,800 people reach Greece daily from Turkey by undertaking a perilous journey across the Aegean Sea.”

The EUObserver added on March 1:

“Austrian chancellor Werner Faymann on Tuesday (1 March) defended his controversial decision to tighten border controls, telling EU Council president Donald Tusk that ‘Austria is not a waiting room for Germany.’”

Passenger Flies from London to Germany with False Passport

The website of mashable.com wrote on February 29:

“We have all been there, rushing to the airport, trying to not forget anything – especially our passports because we would not be allowed to board the plane, right? For one man, this was not the case. Without realising he had picked up his girlfriend’s passport, Josh Reed managed to travel all the way from London’s Stansted to Dortmund, Germany, because no one at the airport had stopped him.

“… it was only after he made it through security and landed in Germany with his friends that he realised that his passport did not belong to him — it belonged to his 7 months pregnant girlfriend, Sophie Watkins. ‘We have different surnames and we couldn’t look more different,’ Reed said… ‘It makes you wonder how easy it would be for people that look alike to get through on fake passports.’”

Merkel: “Germany Should Play a Bigger Role in World Affairs”

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 2:

“The country should not just spread its influence via, exports, the chancellor argued. ‘Rather, we will have to take on more responsibility in an open world for what happens outside our European borders,’ she said from a CDU rally in the town of Wittlich in Rhineland-Palatinate, one of three states about to hold parliamentary ballots [next week]…

“One of her most outspoken critics has been Horst Seehofer, leader of the CDU’s Bavarian sister party the CSU. Speaking at a separate rally in Halle in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, which will also have elections next week, Seehofer said that ‘if the international measures do not come in time or are not effective enough, we will not be able to avoid national measures,’ a clear dig at the chancellor’s policies.

“Instead of bowing to the tension, Merkel has continued to favor a solution at the European level, even as her center-right party loses ground to the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in some areas, including Saxony-Anhalt. A defeat for the CDU at the regional polls could force Merkel to reverse her course if she hopes to keep her party in the majority in the 2017 general election.”

Pope Francis Again in Hot Water

Newsmax wrote on February 27:

“Italian pro-life leaders are speaking out against Pope Francis’ praise of former Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino as one of the nation’s ‘forgotten greats,’ complaining that she is best known in the nation for her stance on legalizing abortion. ‘How can the pope praise a woman that is best known in Italy for practicing illegal abortion and promoting abortion?’ said Msgr. Ignacio Barreiro, who was until last year the head of the Rome office of Human Life International…

“In an interview with the Italian daily Corriere Della Serra, the Pope acknowledged that his praise, in which he compared her to historical figures such as Konrad Adenauer, who was the first post-world War II chancellor of Germany, and the famed statesman Robert Schuman, could be considered controversial. However, she offered the best advice to Italy on Africa, said the pontiff, and commented that it is ‘people who think very differently from us… We have to look at people, at what they do.’

“Bonino, a leading member of the Radical Party and former European Commissioner, though, is well known for having an abortion at the age of 27 and then working with the Information Centre on Sterilization and Abortion, which was responsible for 10,000 abortions… She entered politics after being acquitted on charges of performing illegal abortions… and there are photos of her performing abortions using a homemade device being operated by a bicycle pump…”

More Attacks on Unvaccinated Students

CBS Denver wrote on February 25:

“A bill introduced in the state House would require the reporting of non-vaccinated students to the Colorado Department of Health and Environment. Currently those records are kept with the school… A hearing at the state Capitol on Thursday was packed with parents who oppose the bill…

“The proposal opened an emotional debate about Colorado’s low vaccination rates. Colorado is one of 20 states that allow parents to claim any kind of personal opposition to required immunizations, and vaccine rates for some diseases are among the nation’s lowest… Some of those who are opposed to vaccinations are fearful of the state obtaining the names of those who have opted out for fear it’s a step towards tracking them down… After Thursday’s marathon hearing the bill passed committee 7-6.”

In spite of right concerns by parents, the drug lobby prevailed again in Colorado. There should be no doubt that those records WOULD be used to track down and put pressure on parents of unvaccinated children.

“While Obama Fiddles…”

On February 25, the Washington Post published the following article by Charles Krauthammer:

“1. In the South China Sea… China has just installed antiaircraft batteries and stationed fighter jets. This after China landed planes on an artificial island it created on another disputed island chain (the Spratlys, claimed by the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam). These facilities now function as forward bases for Beijing to challenge seven decades of American naval dominance of the Pacific Rim…

“2. Syria. Russian intervention has turned the tide of war. Having rescued the Bashar al-Assad regime from collapse, relentless Russian bombing is destroying the rebel stronghold of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, creating a massive new wave of refugees and demonstrating to the entire Middle East what a Great Power can achieve when it acts seriously…

“3. Ukraine. Having swallowed Crimea so thoroughly that no one even talks about it anymore, Russia continues to trample with impunity on the Minsk cease-fire agreements…

“4. Iran. Last Thursday, Iran received its first shipment of S-300 antiaircraft batteries from Russia, a major advance in developing immunity to any attack on its nuclear facilities. And it is negotiating an $8 billion arms deal with Russia that includes sophisticated combat aircraft…

“Amid global disarray and American decline, Obama sticks to his cherished concerns: Cuba, Guantanamo (about which he gave a rare televised address this week) and, of course, climate change…”

Legal Changes Proposed by Donald Trump

Frontburner.dmagazine.com reported on February 26:

“Speaking at a rally in Fort Worth today, presidential candidate Donald Trump said he hopes to remove the federal restriction against tax-exempt organizations endorsing politicians, in order to create ‘the strongest Christian lobby.’… The current law, which was passed during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration and strengthened in 1987, prohibits political campaign activity by charities and churches… ‘That’s one of the first things I want to do,’ Trump said… ‘ You can hold me to it…’

“Trump then launched into a defense of the word ‘Christmas’…  ‘We’re going to say “Merry Christmas” now,’ Trump said. ‘We’re going to start going into department stores, and you’re going to see big beautiful signs that say “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Holidays.”’”

Business Insider wrote on February 26:

“Donald Trump threatened on Friday to change America’s libel laws to make it easier to sue media companies. Trump told the press that if he becomes president, then he would rewrite US libel laws so people can ‘sue you like you’d never get sued before.’…

“The billionaire businessman has issued a number of legal threats to reporters and others throughout the years, though in the US it is difficult for public figures to sue the media for libel unless they can prove malice… ‘I’m going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money. … So that when The New York Times writes a hit piece, which is a total disgrace — or when The Washington Post, which is there for other reasons — write a hit piece, we can sue them and win money instead of having no chance of winning because they’re totally protected…”

97 Percent Certainty that Trump Will Be the Next President?

Sbstatesman.com wrote on February 23, 2016:

“A professor of political science at Stony Brook University has forecasted that Donald Trump has a minimum 97 percent chance of winning the general election as the Republican nominee… Donald Trump has a 97 percent chance of defeating Hillary Clinton and a 99 percent chance of defeating Bernie Sanders in the general election, according to [Professor] Norpoth’s formula…

“Norpoth’s primary model works for every presidential election since 1912, with the notable exception of the 1960 election. These results give the model an accuracy of 96.1 percent… ‘You think “This is crazy. How can anything come up with something like that?”’, Norpoth said. ‘But that’s exactly the kind of equation I used to predict Bill Clinton winning in ’96, that I used to predict that George Bush would win in 2004, and, as you remember four years ago, that Obama would win in 2012.’”

This forecast was even given before “Super Tuesday,” when Trump was victorious in seven states (see articles below).

Trump Unlike Hitler

The Local wrote on February 24:

“Many liberal commentators have been wringing their hands about US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump’s alleged similarity to Hitler…

“Despite actually coming from Austria, Hitler was obsessed with the superiority of the German people and could barely finish a sentence without blurting out a reference to the Fatherland. In one of the most well-known ironies of history the squat, dark-haired dictator proclaimed that only tall blond, blue-eyed people were true ‘Aryans.’

“Donald Trump on the other hand is a tall, blond and has blue eyes, but is so ashamed of his links to Germany he tried to cover up his family heritage for years. After originally trying to pass himself off as a Swede, the billionaire has more recently admitted that his grandfather did indeed come from Kallstadt in Rhineland-Palatinate…

“Trump’s signature policy is, of course, the construction of a giant wall along the southern border of the USA to keep people from entering illegally… Hitler, of course, was all for Germany having open borders – just as long as it was German soldiers and settlers streaming out rather than other people coming in. The dictator’s fondest dream was to acquire Lebensraum – living space – in eastern Europe and Russia where the German race could expand, at the cost of those already living there…

“[Hitler’s] failure to invade the United Kingdom may have been one of the turning points that ultimately cost Hitler the war. After his troops conquered France in the early summer of 1940, the Luftwaffe (German air force) fought a bitter battle with the Royal Air Force (RAF) for control of the skies that would become known as the Battle of Britain. But try as the German pilots might, they never won control of the air, which would have allowed the Nazis to establish a bridgehead for invasion on the southern British coast.

“Trump has already colonized his own little corner of Britain, building the Trump International Golf Links on the east coast of Scotland – which he has tried, unsuccessfully, to defend against the government’s plans to build an offshore wind farm nearby…

“Hitler’s devastating war led to the destruction of the largest medieval city centre in Europe Germany. The RAF and US Air Force bombed Frankfurt over six years between 1939-45, leaving most of the city little more than rubble.

“Quite the opposite has been true of Trump, who planned to build the tallest residential building in the world in the German finance capital on the Main at the start of the millennium. The tycoon eventually backed away from the project, possibly due to annoyance with Germany’s planning regulations.”

“Donald Trump Elicits Shock in European Media”

The New York Times wrote on February 28:

“… the European media, like its American counterpart, is adjusting to the prospect of a seemingly unstoppable Trump juggernaut. The reaction is a mix of befuddlement, outrage and panic…

“In Germany… the front page of a recent issue of Der Spiegel, the influential German magazine, shows Mr. Trump with the American flag behind him engulfed in flames. ‘Madness: America’s agitator,’ the headline says…

“Mr. Trump seemed too much even for Bild. It published a commentary recently by Franz Josef Wagner, a former editor of the newspaper, who wrote: ‘The ugly side of America is not dead, nor the ugly side of Germany.’ He compared Trump to a German politician, Frauke Petry of the right-wing Alternative for Germany party, who has called for the police to shoot at people crossing the border illegally. ‘What kind of world will we live in,’ he asked, ‘if these people come to power?’”

The New York Times is waking up to a phenomenon in Europe, which we already discussed sometime back. Please view our StandingWatch program from February 10, titled “Trump Shocks Europe.” 

How Germany Sees It

The Local wrote on March 2:

“German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday took a thinly veiled shot at Donald Trump, decrying the ‘politics of fear’ in the US presidential campaign. ‘Building walls is a very bad idea – no matter who pays for them,’ Steinmeier told university students during a visit to Washington… Steinmeier warned that the rise of populist parties and politicians in Europe and the United States could undermine ‘effective foreign policy in our Western democracies.’

“‘In Germany and in Europe, something is gaining momentum in our domestic politics – and to be honest, I am also seeing it here in the United States during the primary campaigns: It’s the politics of fear,’ he said. ‘Let’s guard against those politics of fear – they are dangerous for Europe and the US. They are bad for the world and, in the end, they will also be bad for our transatlantic relations.’”

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 3:

“There’s something of a Trump-induced paralysis hanging over the German political establishment… For months now, German politicians have been looking across the Atlantic with a mixture of fascination and horror…

“It brings to mind how the Germans felt about George W. Bush – but only a little. Bush was anything but popular in Germany, but nonetheless, Angela Merkel stood by his side in the days before she became chancellor and defended the US invasion of Iraq – something she now concedes was a mistake. But Trump? God help us…

“74 percent of Germans would vote for Hillary Clinton, and only 8 percent would support Donald Trump. Trump has admitted that he admires Russian President Vladimir Putin… The idea of Russia and the United States cozying up to one another with Germany caught in the middle is enough to make anyone afraid.

“But the sense from Berlin is that politicians have so many other things to worry about at the moment: The refugee crisis, the collapse of Europe, the war in Syria, the conflict in Ukraine and Russian intervention. Generally speaking, Germans have lost interest in US politics. Barack Obama was once celebrated here like a hero. What a historic moment – the first black president! But he didn’t live up to Germans’ expectations of him, and gradually, the US didn’t seem so important anymore. And doesn’t all this with Trump seem surreal, like something dreamed up in Hollywood? And if it should become real, what then? But no, that’s not something anyone really wants to consider just yet.”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on March 2 that it appears inevitable that Donald Trump becomes the Republican nominee and that Hillary Clinton has to “save America and the entire world from this man.”

On the other hand, Der Stern Online wrote on March 2: “Trump is right. For many Americans, the USA is no longer a great country. That is why he won in seven of eleven states on Super Tuesday [Ted Cruz won in three states, and Marco Rubio in one.]. It is not only dumb people and Hillbillies who vote for him. He receives votes from Latinos, blacks, blue color workers and  university graduates. Even supporters of Democrats watch him approvingly… He gives true hope to millions of people. It is time to take them and him seriously.“

What Your Phone Knows About You

Bloomberg wrote on February 29:

“Your phone knows more about you than you think. ‘You can extract enough information on a typical person’s phone that you can construct a virtual clone of that individual,’ said Elad Yoran, executive chairman of Koolspan Inc., a communications security company… ‘There’s probably more information about you on your phone than there is in your house,’ Apple chief executive Tim Cook told ABC News last week. ‘Our smartphones are loaded with our intimate conversations, our financial data, our health records. They’re also loaded with the location of our kids in many cases.’

“The world’s 7.3 billion people now have an estimated 3.4 billion smartphones. That’s expected to climb to 6.4 billion by 2021… The phones are powerful, processing more information faster than the computers NASA used to put humans on the moon… There’s a record of calls made and received, text messages, photos, contact lists, calendar entries, Internet browsing history and notes, as well as access to e-mail accounts, banking institutions and websites like Amazon, Facebook, Twitter and Netflix…

“Many people instruct their phones to remember passwords for these apps so they can be quickly opened — which means they are available to anyone who gets into the phone. That reveals your taste in films, shopping habits and relationships… Navigation programs can serve as a record of places visited. If you use a friend finder app, the phone will know where your friends or family members are or have been.

“Moreover, smartphones quietly collect data about a user and share it with others…  Most users don’t realize the extent to which their phone is connected to the outside world because accounts stay automatically logged in…”

Federal Judge Sides With Apple Against FBI

The Guardian wrote on February 29:

“A federal judge on Monday rejected an FBI request to order Apple to open the iPhone of a drug dealer in a major setback to the US government’s increasingly heated efforts to force the company to help unlock an iPhone used by a San Bernardino terrorist.

“The ruling late on Monday by magistrate judge James Orenstein rejected the US Justice Department’s attempt to gain access to the iPhone of accused crystal meth dealer Jun Feng, whose case is ongoing, though Feng has pleaded guilty. He will be sentenced in April.

“… The New York magistrate echoed at least one of the key arguments Apple is making in its other, higher-profile fight with the government: the [ancient] All Writs Act (AWA) can’t be used to order a technology company to manipulate its products, he said. ‘The implications of the government’s position are so far-reaching – both in terms of what it would allow today and what it implies about Congressional intent in 1789 – as to produce impermissibly absurd results,’ said the judge.”

Judge Orenstein is absolutely correct. In addition, this case also shows that the FBI’s contention is patently untrue that it would only compel Apple to unlock the iPhone in the San Bernardino case.  Please view our StandingWatch program, “Why Would Apple Resist the FBI?”  

Catholic Church vs. Trump

The Washington Post wrote on February 19:

“First was the British prime minister, who called Donald Trump ‘divisive, stupid and wrong.’ Then came Britain’s Parliament, which denounced him with colorful language. The French prime minister, the Turkish president and a Saudi prince also weighed in: The Republican presidential front-runner, they agreed, was a demagogue disgracing the United States.

“On Thursday, Pope Francis added the strongest voice yet to a growing chorus of world leaders taking a stand against the celebrity candidate — condemning Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda and suggesting he was not a Christian because of it… Trump, a Presbyterian, strongly rebuked Francis for his comments…

“For generations, the role of the papacy has been shaded by politics — and Francis’s papacy especially, with his efforts on global climate change and general outspokenness. But it was striking for him to comment on U.S. electoral politics during a campaign…”

Does the Pope Speak With Authority on Christian Teachings?

In a related article, The Washington Post published this article by James Martin, a Jesuit priest:

“Like any good Jesuit, who knows that this rule is ingrained in the thinking of Saint Ignatius Loyola, the Jesuit founder, the pope says that he is giving Trump the ‘benefit of the doubt.’… Pope Francis is correct. Any person who consistently speaks of excluding people, who trumpets his desire to (literally) build more walls between communities, and who manifests a desire to increase division, is not walking the Christian way… one of the pope’s traditional titles is ‘Pontifex Maximus,’ the Great Bridge Builder.

“… the billionaire businessman has directed hatred against a great many people — migrants of course, but also Mexicans, women, his fellow presidential candidates and on and on. This, too, is not of God. The kind of hatred that issues from Trump’s mouth —from anyone’s mouth — is not motivated by God. Hatred of this sort is motivated by evil; so is contempt for the poor…

“The pope speaks with authority. If anyone has the right to pronounce on such matters, it is Pope Francis. Learned, prayerful and humble, Francis is someone whom the world has rightly come to trust. As much as we would listen to the Dalai Lama when it comes to Buddhist practice, we would listen to Pope Francis when it comes to Christian teachings…  Trump has responded to Pope Francis with a hateful comment about the Islamic State bombing the Vatican…”

This is a rather odd article by a Jesuit priest, speaking about a Jesuit pope. Since when does the pope speak with authority on Christian teachings? Virtually all non-Catholics would strongly disagree with this assumption, and quite a few Catholics disagree with this premise as well.

Religious Leaders Rush To Trump’s Defense After Pope Francis’ Comments

The Huffington Post wrote on February 19:

“Religious leaders voiced support for Donald Trump after Pope Francis implied that the Republican presidential candidate is ‘not a Christian.’

“Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr., who is the son of the late televangelist Jerry Falwell, told CNN that ‘the pope is mistaken … I do believe Trump is a Christian.’ He added that ‘JFK would be rolling over in his grave right now.’ Falwell has endorsed Trump for president…

“Franklin Graham, the son of Evangelist minister Billy Graham, also defended Trump. ‘My advice to the pontiff: Reach out and build a bridge to Donald Trump,’ he said on Facebook. ‘Who knows where he may be this time next year!’

“But it’s not just evangelists who have Trump’s back. Catholic League President Bill Donohue defended the former reality TV star and accused the media of twisting Pope Francis’ words. ‘The pope was set up by the reporter,’ he said. ‘He’s been lied to about what Trump has said.’”

“God Told Israel to Build a Wall”

Newsmax wrote on February 19:

“Pope Francis should know that walls sometimes are commanded by God, former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said Thursday in response to the Pope saying Christians don’t build walls… ‘It’s just absolutely stunning,’ Huckabee said. I don’t remember in my lifetime that a Pope has ever injected himself into the specifics of an American presidential election and specifically calling out of a candidate.’… Huckabee said that all the Republican candidates have called for a secure border, so Francis should not have singled out Trump.

‘‘I have been to the Vatican,’ he added. ‘There is a big wall that surrounds the Vatican. I’m wondering, when the Pope gets back home, is he going to it take that down and say we don’t build walls anymore?’ Further, the Old Testament figure Nehemiah built a protective wall around Jerusalem at God’s command, said Huckabee, a former Baptist minister. ‘I don’t know what the Pope thinks a country should do if it doesn’t protect its borders and protect its people,’ he said. ‘A country without a border is not even a country anymore.’”

“Huge” Win of Trump Against the Pope, as Vatican Backs Down

The Daily Mail wrote on February 19:

“The Vatican today executed a speedy climb-down in its feud with Donald Trump – handing the Republican White House hopeful a major political victory. Pope Francis’s suggestion that Trump was ‘not Christian’ because of his views on immigration was not a personal attack on the candidate, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said on Friday…

“[The Pope’s comments] promoted an immediate and furious denunciation from Trump, as well as a massive backlash on social media, where the Pope was mocked for living in the Vatican, itself a walled city-state…

“By day’s end the conflict drew Trump’s Republican rivals out of the shadows, with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio – the presidential race’s two Roman Catholics – backing The Donald over The Pontiff…

“Rubio… defended the Republican Party’s line – essentially, Trump’s position – on immigration… Noting that the U.S. takes in a million immigrants a year, he declared that ‘Mexico doesn’t do that. No other country in the world does that… We’re a sovereign country. We have a right to control who comes in, when they come in and how they come in… Vatican City controls who comes in, when they come and how they come in, as a nation-state, or a city-state. And as a result, the United States has a right to do that as well.’

“Bush also rushed to Trump’s defense and insisted that no one should determine the validity of another person’s faith in God…”

The Hill added on February 19:

“Donald Trump is praising Pope Francis a day after he blasted the pontiff for seemingly questioning his faith and criticizing his proposal to build a wall on the nation’s southern border.  ‘I think he’s a terrific person, frankly,’ Trump said of Francis during an interview with Fox News’s Greta Van Susteren… The real estate mogul suggested afterward that he appreciated the Vatican walking back the remarks, telling Fox News, ‘The fact that he said that, I’m very honored by it.’”

The Vatican’s Stone Wall

In a related article, the Daily Mail explained the history, purpose and function of the Vatican’s wall:

“Vatican City is the smallest independent state in the world. An enormous stone wall acts as a boundary between the micro-nation and the rest of Italy. Nowadays, it serves as a way for the Swiss Guard to control the stream of tourists coming in and out of the Pope’s home. But, just over 1,200 years ago, it was an integral form of protection for the Pope, who was a targeted figure after the fall of the Holy Roman Empire .

“The fortification was first built after a raid by Muslim pirates in 846. Arab raiders sacked Rome in a bid to find treasures. Watch towers were put in place to watch for would-be intruders. It also helped to protect Pope Gregory VII around 200 years later when the Holy Roman Emperor besieged Rome.

“In the 1640s, Pope Paul III expanded the fortifications, and additional defenses. In 1870, the Pope’s residency in the Vatican was left in flux when Rome was annexed by the Piedmont-led forces which had united the rest of Italy. They had created the Kingdom of Italy, a change opposed by Pope Pius XIII as it undermined his autonomy in some areas.

“Between 1861 and 1929 the status of the Pope was referred to as the ‘Roman Question’ and the walls served as a way of keeping him isolated from the rest of Italy. Within the walls, Italian politicians did not challenge the Pope’s autonomy. But, in other parts of the country, church items were confiscated.

“In 1871, the Palazzo Quirinale, the Papal palace since 1583, was confiscated by the king of Italy and became the royal palace. Thereafter, Popes resided undisturbed within the Vatican walls. Certain papal prerogatives were recognized by the Law of Guarantees, including the right to send and receive ambassadors. But the Popes did not recognise the Italian king’s right to rule in Rome, and they refused to leave the Vatican compound until the dispute was resolved in 1929. Ever since the autonomy of the Vatican within the walls has not been challenged by the Italian government.”

Pope Should Stay Out of Politics…

Newsmax wrote on February 18:

“Pope Francis should not become involved in American politics because ‘he’s probably not up to speed on what we’re arguing about,’ conservative columnist George Will [said] on Thursday. ‘This Pope has shown a proclivity, to put it politely, for speaking about things about which he has no particular expertise: climate change, income redistribution, all the rest… He has a long sort of Latin American, left-wing political agenda — and I think it influenced this.’”

Will also criticized Trump for his initial answer to the Pope, stating it did not help the cause.

More Controversial Comments by the Pope

The Associated Press wrote on February 18:

“Pope Francis has suggested women threatened with the Zika virus could use artificial contraception, saying ‘avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil’ in light of the global epidemic. The pope unequivocally rejected abortion…  But he drew a parallel to a decision by Pope Paul VI in the 1960s to approve giving nuns in Belgian Congo artificial contraception to prevent pregnancies because they were being systematically raped…

“Theologians and some Latin American bishops cautioned the pope was not giving a green light for Catholics to use artificial birth control, nor did his remarks amount to a change in church teaching…

“U.N. officials have called on Latin American countries to loosen their abortion laws to allow women to terminate pregnancies if they fear the fetus may be at risk for microcephaly, a rare birth defect that causes brain damage and may be linked to the virus. But Francis told reporters, ‘Taking one life to save another, that’s what the Mafia does. It’s a crime. It’s an absolute evil.’…”

Trump Did NOT Oppose the Iraq War?

Newsmax reported on February 18:

“Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said in 2002 that he supported the Iraq War — despite his insistence that he opposed the conflict during the George W. Bush administration. ‘Yeah, I guess so,’ Trump said in response to a question about whether he supported the war from radio host Howard Stern on Sept. 11, 2002. ‘I wish the first time it was done correctly.’

“When asked Thursday at a CNN town hall in South Carolina whether he made the statement, Trump responded that ‘I probably said that’… ‘By the time the war started, I was against it. Shortly thereafter, I was really against it.’”

However, note the next article.

Newmax reported on February 19:

“On the second day of the Iraq War in 2003, Donald Trump said that the effort begun by President George W. Bush appeared to be ‘a tremendous success from a military standpoint.’ Trump… told Neil Cavuto on Fox Business Channel that the conflict would help Wall Street… BuzzFeed obtained audio of the telephone interview, from March 21, 2003, through Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. Operation Iraqi Freedom began on March 20, 2003, ending that May 1. ‘Wall Street’s just gonna go up like a rocket, even beyond, and it’s gonna continue and, you know, we have a strong and powerful country and let’s hope it all works out,’ Trump said.

“He added that he believed that any international objections to the war would not endanger American’s economy. ‘I guess the French never liked us much, except when we’re bailing them out, you know, to be totally honest with you,’ he told Cavuto. ‘But certainly, we’re going to have to work on our public relations, because there’s no question that there are a lot of countries in the world right now that aren’t too fond of us — but I think that can be solved and probably pretty quickly.’

“The developer added that, ‘the main thing is to get the war over with and just make it a tremendously successful campaign — and it’ll be very interesting to see what kind of weapons they uncover.’”

Cruz Parrots Trump

The Huffington Post wrote on February 22:

“Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has taken a page from Donald Trump’s presidential campaign playbook, hardening his rhetoric against undocumented immigrants. Cruz told Fox News host Bill O’Reilly on Monday that yes, should he be elected president, his administration would deport all 12 million undocumented people estimated to be in the U.S. and wouldn’t allow them to return… Cruz said America would build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, triple the border force and establish biometric entry systems ‘so we will know the day someone overstays their visa.’

“The senator’s comments represent an escalation in rhetoric from a candidate who rejected the notion of a ‘deportation force’ of ‘jackboots’ just last month, and lambasted the idea after it was proposed by GOP front-runner Trump. Cruz in January said such a policy would reflect ‘a police state,’ adding, ‘That’s not how we enforce the law for any crime.’”

The Scam with GOP’s Superdelegates

Bustle wrote on February 20:

“The dominance of Trump’s campaign, as well as the refusal of many to believe that Trump might actually win, is leading to increased speculations that the GOP might be headed toward a contested convention. As Republican officials dust off convention rulebooks in preparation for the possibility, many others are curious: How would superdelegates affect a contested convention?

“The GOP has about 2,472 delegates, and 168 of them are ‘super’ (or unbound). In theory, they can vote for whoever they want, and would thus have a lot of power at a contested convention. However, the Republican National Committee changed its rules in 2016, and so this year, those 168 superdelegates won’t actually be super at all. Instead, they’ll be obligated to vote for the candidate that their state supported, either on a proportional or a winner-take-all basis.

“If the convention is contested, however, this will change. How exactly it will change is complicated…

“In normal circumstances, a candidate wins the majority of delegates during the primary and caucus stage, those delegates vote for that candidate at the convention, and the candidate becomes the nominee. But if no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the party’s total delegates by the time the national convention is held, nobody will win the majority of delegates at the actual convention vote, and as a result, the party will be left without a nominee…

“The delegates have to keep voting until more than 50 percent of them rally behind one candidate, and so multiple rounds of voting are held. In between these rounds (which are officially, and confusingly, called ‘ballots’), the candidates and their supporters will lobby individual delegates, attempting to convince them to change their votes. This keeps going until one candidate secures the support of more than half of the delegates…

“The bottom line is that if the GOP does indeed end up with a contested convention, the nomination would be decided by an elite group of superdelegates. It’ll be way, way messier than that.”

If that wasn’t bad enough, read the next article about the superdelegates within the Democratic Party.

The Scam with Democrats’ Superdelegates

The New York Times’ Editorial Board wrote on February 19:

“Superdelegates are party bigwigs – 712 Democratic leaders, legislators, governors and the like. They can vote for any candidate at the nominating convention, regardless of whether that candidate won the popular vote. These unpledged delegates make up 30 percent of the 2,382 delegates whose votes are needed to win the nomination, and could thus make all the difference.

“The status of Hillary and Bill Clinton as senior figures in the Democratic Party has allowed Mrs. Clinton to secure public endorsements from many more superdelegates than Mr. Sanders. Late last year, The Associated Press surveyed 80 percent of the Democratic superdelegates and found that 359 had endorsed Mrs. Clinton, versus eight for Mr. Sanders. The rest remained uncommitted.

“In the New Hampshire primary…, which Mrs. Clinton lost by 22 percentage points, Mr. Sanders won 15 of the state’s 24 pledged delegates, and Mrs. Clinton won nine. But because she has the support of six of the state’s eight unpledged superdelegates… she is virtually tied with Mr. Sanders in the New Hampshire delegate count…”

So while superdelegates play an important role within the GOP in case of a contested convention, superdelegates may play a decisive vote at the Democratic convention, even if the convention is not contested. One is tempted to ask: Why even vote, if the results may mean nothing?

Boycotting Apple?

Newsmax reported on February 19:

“Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called on Friday for a boycott of Apple products until the tech company agrees to help the U.S. government unlock the cellphone of one of the killers in the San Bernardino, California, attack… Trump made the off-the-cuff comment at a town hall-style event at a country club in Pawleys Island, (South Carolina)… He also called for the boycott on Twitter.

“The Republican front-runner in the 2016 White House race has been a frequent critic of Apple and called on the company to make more products in the United States…

“The filing [of a lawsuit by the US government against Apple] escalated a showdown between the Obama administration and Silicon Valley over security and privacy that ignited earlier this week.”

Please view our StandingWatch program, titled, “Why Would Apple Resist the FBI?” which shows why Donald Trump is wrong on this issue. Apple responded that they are in good company, given the many unsuccessful attempts of Trump to boycott companies and individuals in the past…

Apple vs. FBI: “FBI Screwed It Up”

Business Insider wrote on February 21:

“The FBI has shed more light on its involvement in what is shaping up to be the most controversial piece of evidence in the investigation of San Bernardino terror suspect Syed Rizwan Farook: his iCloud account password.

“Hours after Farook’s iPhone was recovered by law enforcement, the password to his iCloud account was reset. The reset was an attempt to gain access to his account. It also likely prevented the iPhone from doing an auto-backup, which could have yielded useful information about Farook’s activity leading up to the shooting that killed 14 people and wounded 22 others.

“That kicked off a round of finger-pointing by Apple executives, the FBI, and San Bernardino County officials over who reset the iCloud password… the FBI confirmed it was working with San Bernardino County officials when the password was reset. Apple executives said…  that if the FBI hadn’t changed the iCloud password, it wouldn’t need to create a backdoor to the iPhone.

“It sounds like the FBI screwed this whole process up…”

Many legal scholars agree that Apple has no choice but to resist the FBI. Please view our StandingWatch program, “Why Would Apple Resist the FBI?”

Apple Prepared to Go All the Way

The Telegraph wrote on February 24:

“Apple is ready to fight the FBI’s demand that it unlocks the phone of Rizwan Farook, one of the San Bernardino killers all the way to the Supreme Court, Tim Cook, the company’s chief executive, has said. Mr Cook said that complying with a court order to help the FBI break into an iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters would… set a legal precedent that would offend many Americans…

“Apple’s chief executive officer also said there should have been more dialogue with the Obama administration before the US Justice Department’s decision to seek relief from a federal magistrate judge in California. ‘We found out about the filing from the press, and I don’t think that’s the way the railroad should be run, and I don’t think that something so important to this country should be handled in this way,’ Mr Cook said in an interview being aired on ‘ABC World News Tonight.’”

Fragile Syria Deal

The Washington Post wrote on February 22:

“The United States and Russia announced Monday that they have agreed to the terms of a partial cease-fire in Syria, a deal that will depend on their ability to cooperate amid deep mutual suspicion and test their willingness and ability to dictate terms to their allies on the ground.

“Under the agreement, Washington and Moscow are to establish a hotline between them to monitor compliance and resolve potential problems, a joint statement said. The two are also ‘prepared to work together to exchange pertinent information’ delineating territory currently held by various Syrian combatants and ensuring that neither country, nor any of their allies, bombs groups or areas covered by the accord.

“Opposition groups, and the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, have until noon Friday to inform the United States or Russia that they agree to the terms, or risk coming under renewed attack. The agreement excludes the Islamic State, al-Qaeda’s affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, and any other ‘terrorist’ group that in the future may be designated by the United Nations.

“While the United States is depending on Russia to bring the Syrian government and Iran to heel, rebel backers including Turkey and Saudi Arabia are under pressure to rein in groups thought to be under their control.”

One has to ask: How could this “deal” possibly work?

Turkey Won’t Be Israel’s Friend

The Times of Israel wrote on February 19:

“There is little chance that Israel will be able to rehabilitate its ties with Turkey, Greece’s defense minister told Israeli journalists on Thursday.  ‘The fact [that] Turkey trades with Daesh [Islamic State], as Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has described, funds Daesh, and allows its fighters to enter and leave Syria raises questions in both Israel and Greece,’ Panos Kammenos told Israel Radio in an interview while on a visit to Israel… ‘Turkey’s… stance toward Israel remains as hostile as in the past.’

“Kammenos noted that Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu last year said he longed to see the Palestinian flag flying over Jerusalem.”

The Bible shows that, ultimately, Turkey will become extremely hostile towards Israel.

“Russia Might Strike Anywhere in the World”

The Guardian wrote on February 19:

“Vladimir Putin’s new geopolitical ambitions have led the US to realise it made a strategic mistake turning away from Europe and making a pivot to Asia, the foreign affairs adviser to the Polish president has said.

“Krzysztof Szczerski urged the west to recognise that the Russian president was no longer simply seeking to restore his country’s dominance in former Soviet states such as Ukraine, but to adopt a more dominant military posture across the globe. He told the Guardian: ‘It is now a strategy of geopolitical confrontation, so the next strikes of Putin are not guaranteed to be in the post-Soviet sphere. It could be anywhere in the world. It is wrong to think that Putin has narrow territorial limits. Syria has shown that is not the case.’

“Szczerski said Putin’s Syrian intervention last year showed Russia had the capacity to move large amounts of equipment at speed across a great distance without their preparations being noticed…”

“Deal” Reached between Brussels and Britain

The Washington Post wrote on February 19:

“Round-the-clock negotiations between British Prime Minister David Cameron and his fellow European Union leaders yielded a deal late Friday night that they hope will keep Britain from becoming the first country to leave the 28-member bloc… A British exit — popularly known as ‘Brexit’ — is strongly opposed by all E.U. leaders, Cameron included…  Cameron said after the deal was announced that the agreed package of E.U. reforms was ‘enough’ for him to recommend that Britain remain in the union… [The British referendum has been subsequently set for June 23, 2016.]

“Cameron received concessions that amounted to far less than the fundamental renegotiation of Britain’s relationship with the E.U. that he had promised. But he was expected to declare victory nonetheless… But already on Friday, British Euroskeptics were lining up to proclaim the long and protracted talks as Exhibit A in their portrayal of the E.U. as a hopelessly dysfunctional institution that is beyond hope for serious reform…”

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 19:

“Cameron noted that migrants would no longer be able to come to Britain and start collecting social benefits before they have even had time to look for work. Indeed, he said they won’t have access to it for four years. Paradoxically, he also voiced support for the free movement of people and labor.”

The Telegraph wrote on February 20:

“David Cameron finally has his deal with the Europe – a deal that, it is claimed, gives Britain a ‘special status’ within the EU… It is astonishing that such humble proposals caused that much difficulty… Is it really a step too far to protect the interests of countries outside the eurozone? And what is so shocking about the proposition that British taxpayers should not [have] to pay such generous child welfare payments to children living overseas?… It will probably astonish British voters that all of this proved so problematic, particularly when Europeans have such terrible problems as the refugee crisis to chew over…

“But, then again, this should not surprise us. The EU leadership has decided that the future lies with greater integration, so even the smallest reform will be regarded as a challenge to this philosophy…”

“Call That a Deal, Dave?”

The Daily Mail wrote on February 19:

“All that lost sleep, and for what?… you have only to read David Cameron’s defiant quotes… to see the chasm between the ‘fundamental changes’ he promised and the pathetic ‘compromise on a compromise’ he has struggled to clinch this week.

“Gone are his commitments to ‘full-on treaty change’, war on bureaucracy, sovereignty for Westminster, ‘a complete opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights’, the return of border controls, limits on the jurisdiction of the European Court and more besides.

“In their place are measures so complex and trifling that they promise only more work for the bureaucrats, who will absurdly have to calculate 27 different rates of child benefit for migrant workers, according to the cost of living in their countries of origin.

“As for his vaunted ‘red card’, which would allow blocks of 15 nations to veto Brussels diktats, you have only to witness this week’s infighting to see the difficulty of getting three nations to agree, let alone 15…

“No, from the moment Mr Cameron made clear that he was determined to remain in the EU, come what may, any fleeting hopes of an agreement that might have made a real difference flew out of the window… As they bickered over the minutiae of child benefit at their banquets, a tide of migration unseen since 1945 was sweeping over the continent they purport to control, with 6,000 arriving on the Greek island of Lesbos in only three days. And that’s in the depths of winter, months before the peak season. Among them will be unknown numbers of jihadis, posing as war refugees to join the 5,000 IS-trained terrorists estimated by the EU’s police chief to be at large in Europe.

“In the fantasy world of the summit, leaders may mouth pious platitudes about the ‘non-negotiable’ principle of free movement. Yet in the real world, razor-wire fences are being erected between member states — while Austria sensibly breaks all the rules by refusing to accept more than 80 asylum-seekers a day…

“One thing is clear. Nothing agreed in Brussels will tempt a single voter to cross from the Out to the In camp (though it may swing some people the other way)… Indeed, the Prime Minister comes out of this sorry saga badly wounded, just eight months after his surprise election triumph made him look all but invincible on the domestic political battleground. But it is not too late for him to redeem himself. He should tell voters, humbly and frankly, that he has tried hard but failed to secure a deal worth having…”

Strong Opposition to Cameron’s “Deal”

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 20:

“65 of the 330 members of Cameron’s Conservative party in the parliament [want] Britain to opt out of the bloc. Many opposition politicians dismissed Friday’s agreement. Shadow Foreign Secretary Hillary Benn of the Labour Party said Cameron had done ‘what he decided he had to do because he was too weak to stand up to his political party.’ Labour Party Chief Jeremy Corbyn, who supports Britain’s membership in the EU, described Cameron’s trip to Brussels as a ‘theatrical sideshow… designed to appease his opponents within the conservative party.’”

The Times of Israel wrote on February 20:

“Many British newspapers reacted sceptically to the Brussels deal, which contained restrictions on welfare payments for EU migrants and an opt-out for Britain from the EU’s goal towards ever closer union. ‘Cameron’s Climbdown,’ read a headline on the Daily Express website… The Daily Telegraph said Cameron had made ‘puny gains’ and The Times called it ‘Thin Gruel.”

Der Stern Online questioned whether the “deal” was enough to convince the British people to stay in the EU. The publication said that the alleged special status for Britain, exempting them from working towards “ever closer” European Union, was meaningless, as they were already exempt from many regulations, such as the Eurozone and the Schengen agreement.

Bild Online quoted Angela Merkel as saying that even though making some of the concessions to Britain were “not easy,” they did not give Britain “too much.” Still, she wished that Britain would have agreed to participating in creating an “ever closer union.”

Cameron vs. Johnson… the Fight for or against Brexit

The Daily Mail wrote on February 23:

“David Cameron today said Boris Johnson [mayor of London, conservative MP and potential successor to David Cameron] was a ‘fantastic friend’ but one who was ‘wrong’ on the EU… Mr Johnson… promised a ‘fantastic new future’ outside the EU where Britain was the ‘hub’ of new trading arrangements around the world… Mr Cameron insisted Britain was ‘better off’ inside the European Union because of the uncertainty a Brexit would bring…

“Mr Johnson…  has become the standard bearer for the campaign to get Britain out of the EU, said those promoting danger had been proved wrong before… Mr Johnson today said he was determined to seize the opportunity to quit a European Union which was ‘wasteful, anti-democratic and I think evolving ever forwards towards a super state I don’t think most British people want to be involved with’…

“The six Cabinet rebels voting for Britain to leave the EU have been banned from using any government material or resources to campaign for Out, under strict new rules published today. Jeremy Heywood, the Cabinet Secretary, sent a letter to all civil servants this morning telling them that government resources must only be used in the referendum campaign if it supports the Government’s official stance in support of Britain’s membership of the EU. It risks causing further anger among Tory Eurosceptics as it will put pro-Brexit ministers at a significant disadvantage to pro-EU members of the Government in the run up to June’s referendum.”

That is how politics are made in a supposedly free and democratic country.

“Deutsche Boerse Plans London Stock Exchange Takeover”

CNN wrote on February 23:

“The London Stock Exchange could soon have a new German owner. A huge merger looks set to reshape Europe’s stock exchanges.

“German market operator Deutsche Boerse… wants to join forces with the London Stock Exchange…, the companies said Tuesday. They described the proposed transaction as a ‘merger of equals,’ but Deutsche Boerse shareholders would end up owning more than 54% in the new company. Shares in the London Stock Exchange soared by as much as 20% after the announcement and Deutsche Boerse shares jumped by about 9%.

“The combined exchanges would have more heft to compete against the New York Stock Exchange operator, Intercontinental Exchange, which also owns markets in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Portugal and the U.K. through its Euronext business. Shares in Intercontinental Exchange were dipping by about 1.5% Tuesday. Based on U.K. rules, Deutsche Boerse will have to make a formal offer by March 22 or walk away from the deal…”

British Schoolchildren Under Attack

NewsWithViews wrote on February 20:

“British schoolchildren are being heavily targeted and ‘used’ to reform society… This was illustrated in a recent survey carried out by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England who recently distributed a questionnaire to schoolchildren in Brighton and Hove.

“The questionnaire asked the children, aged from 13 – 18 to choose from over 20 gender options on how it best described their gender, to include: Tomboy, Trans boy, Gender fluid, Agender, Androgynous, Bi-gender, Non-binery, Gender queer, Gender non-conforming, Tri gender, In the middle of boy and girl, Intersex.

“… you can only imagine the type of identity crisis and confusion you would experience when you are just 13, in relation to the suggestion that you should fall into one of these categories.

“In an article from the Telegraph it read that the head teacher from one of the schools said: ‘We want all our young people to feel comfortable with who they are, to understand that the notion of gender can go beyond the traditional idea of simply being either male and female, and to recognise that people can use a range of terms to describe their gender identity.’…

“It is reported that the survey was later withdrawn for amendments, yet not abolished, after the Children’s Commissioner, Anne Longfield received complaints. The problem with labels, thoughts and feelings, is that they are terribly hard to shake off once you have accepted their distortion of reality…”

The abominations continue. See the next article.

Jesus a Transgender Woman?

The Daily Mail reported on February 14:

“A play that portrays Jesus as a transgender woman who refers to God as ‘Mum’ is to be performed in a Church of England church today. To the fury of critics who say the play is deeply offensive, the Bishop of Manchester, David Walker, will not block the staging of The Gospel According To Jesus, Queen Of Heaven.

“The one-woman play by Jo Clifford, an award-winning Scottish playwright who has herself changed gender, imagines Jesus returning to earth as a ‘trans woman’ and retelling the parables with a transsexual slant.”

God’s patience with this evil generation is amazing!

Fire From Heaven

The Daily Mail wrote on February 22:

“A huge fireball crashed into the Atlantic earlier this month – and went almost unseen. The event took place on February 6 at 14:00 UTC when a meteor exploded in the air 620 miles (1,000km) off the coast of Brazil. It released energy equivalent to 13,000 tons of TNT, which is the same as the energy used in the first atomic weapon that leveled Hiroshima in 1945…

“Nasa tracks around 12,992 near-Earth objects which have been discovered orbiting within our solar system close to our own orbit. It estimates around 1,607 are classified as Potentially Hazardous Asteroids… scientists have long said that these space rocks could threaten life on Earth…

“In fact, the Earth had a ‘near-miss’ only a few months ago… The bus-sized asteroid, named 2014 EC, came within 38,300 (61,637km) miles of Earth in March – around a sixth of the distance between the moon and our planet…

“The threat is so serious that former astronaut Ed Lu has described it as ‘cosmic roulette’ and said that only ‘blind luck’ has so far saved humanity from a serious impact.”