Escalation of Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran

Bloomberg reported on January 3, 2016:

“In a significant escalation of tensions, Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran and expelled the Islamic Republic’s diplomats, a day after its embassy in Tehran was attacked to protest the Saudis’ execution of a prominent Shiite cleric…

“[Saudi Foreign Minister Adel] Al-Jubeir announced the expulsion after Iranian protesters set the Saudi embassy on fire following the execution of Nimr al-Nimr, a critic of the kingdom’s treatment of its Shiite minority. He was one of 47 men executed for offenses that included terrorism and political activism…

“The escalation probably will undermine already-stumbling efforts to end the war in Syria, where Saudi Arabia backs largely Sunni militants and Iran supports the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The two OPEC members are also engaged in a proxy confrontation in Yemen…”

Saudi Arabia and Iran—“Two Murderous Theocracies”

Deutsche Welle wrote on January 4:

“The timing of the executions was no coincidence. The Saudi State knows full well what it does – and when. No one in Riyadh is naïve enough not to have considered the reactions to the mass executions ahead of time. But that also means: In ordering the executions the Saudis were sending, above all, a political message. The message read: No one should dare oppose us. No one inside and no one outside our borders. Whoever dares confront us must expect dire consequences…

“Of course, Iran’s reactions have been dubious as well: By allowing protesters to storm and vandalize the Saudi embassy in Tehran the Mullah regime has demonstrated that it is not interested in calming tensions… Iran has declared itself to be the protector of all Shiites inside and outside Iran.”

Military Conflict between Sunnis and Shiites on the Horizon?

Breitbart wrote on January 4:

“Bahrain and Sudan have joined their ally Saudi Arabia in formally severing diplomatic ties with Iran, while the United Arab Emirates has ‘downgraded’ its diplomatic team, recalling its ambassador from Tehran and announcing that it would reduce the number of diplomats assigned to Iran…

“Fawaz Gerges of the London School of Economics warned that the breach between Saudi Arabia and Iran ‘could easily spiral out of control,’ noting that the proxy battle between the Saudis and Iran – which is, in turn, a manifestation of the old conflict between Sunni and Shiite – has already produced violent clashes on the Arab street, plus armed conflict in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Bahrain, and Lebanon.

“Another CNN analyst, retired Lt. General Mark Hertling, thought it was possible the conflict between Saudi Arabia, Iran, and their respective allies could become a direct military conflict. He echoed Gerges’ warning that ‘this is spiraling very quickly.’”

A Point of No Return?

The Telegraph wrote on January 4:

“The Persian Gulf has become a strategic tinderbox. Saudi Arabia’s drastic decision to behead the Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr marks a point of no return in the bitter Sunni-Shia conflict engulfing the region. It is a dangerous escalation in the Kingdom’s struggle with Iran for regional hegemony. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has vowed swift and harsh revenge, promising to bring down the Saudi dynasty in short order to avenge this ‘medieval act of savagery’…

“The risk for the Saudis is that the execution of Sheikh Nimr for what is essentially peaceful political protest ignites a long-simmering revolt by an aggrieved Shia minority, who make up 15pc of the population and are sitting on top of the giant Saudi oil fields in the Eastern Province…

“Ali al-Ahmed, director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs in Washington…said the mass executions have set in motion a fateful chain of events that nobody can now control. ‘It will likely trigger a bloody civil war that won’t end until the Saudi monarchy ceases to exist. This cycle of violence will not spare anyone or anything, including the coveted oil installations,’ he said…”

All the Actors in the Middle East Will Have to Choose Sides

The Times of Israel wrote on January 4:

“… nearly all the actors in the Middle Eastern arena now understand that… Tehran will try to… attack… the Saudi kingdom.

“Any revenge attack via Shiite actors will draw a Saudi response. Which means… the cold war will heat up suddenly into a… much more dangerous confrontation between the two countries.

“It has to be said that this crisis, which is likely to lead to a clash of the two civilizations, Shiite and Sunni, does not come as much of a shock. In all, what’s come to light here is the depth of the loathing between the two local powers, which have for years been fighting behind the scenes… for regional hegemony. There’s hardly a country or a region in which the fingerprints of the hostility between Tehran and Riyadh cannot be seen; or more precisely, between the representative of Sunni Islam — Saudi Arabia — and Iran, its competitor in the Shiite world…

“From now on, the name of the game in our region is that every country or organization will have to choose a side…”

Boiling Over… Iran vs. Saudi Arabia

The Associated Press reported on January 7:

“Iran on Thursday accused the Saudi-led coalition battling Shiite rebels in Yemen of hitting its embassy in the capital, Sanaa, in an overnight airstrike, but there were no visible signs of damage on the building… Analysts have feared the dispute could boil over into the proxy wars between the two Mideast rivals in Yemen and in Syria…

“Meanwhile Thursday, Iran banned the import of goods from Saudi Arabia… Iran’s annual exports to Saudi Arabia are worth about $130 million a year and are mainly steel, cement and agricultural products. Iran’s annual imports from Saudi Arabia total about $60 million a year and consisted mostly of packing materials and textiles…”

Sunni and Shia’s 1,400-Year-Old Divide Explained

The Independent wrote on January 4:

“Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran fundamentally boil down to two things – the battle to be the dominant nation in the Middle East and the fact the countries represent the regional strongholds of two rival branches of Islam.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is ruled by a Sunni monarchy known as the House of Saud, with 90 per cent of the population adherents of their leaders’ faith. The Islamic Republic of Iran, meanwhile, is overwhelmingly Shia, with up to 95 per cent of nationals belonging to the denomination…

“It is the theological divide that really drives the wedge between the two countries… with each unable to accept the legitimacy of the other nation’s dominant faith.

“The Sunni-Shia conflict is 1,400 years in the making, dating back to the years immediately after the Prophet Mohammed’s death in 632.

“The Prophet died without having appointed a successor leading to a massive split over the future of the rapidly growing religion – chiefly whether the religion’s next leader should be chosen by a kind of democratic consensus, or whether only Mohammed’s blood relations should reign. The arguments are complicated but essentially boil down to the fact that Sunni’s believe the Prophets’ trusted friend and advisor Abu Bakr was the first rightful leader of Muslims or ‘caliph’, while Shias believe that Mohammed’s cousin and son-in-law Ali was chosen by Allah to hold the title.

“Both men did eventually hold the title – Abu Bakr first until his death, and Ali fourth after two previous caliphs were assassinated – but the schism really hit over who should come next. While Sunni Muslims argue that their interpretation of Islam follows the Sunnah (ways of Mohammed), Shias argue that Ali was the rightful first caliph and only his descendants could claim to be the true leaders of Muslims.

“The tension is not eased by a Hadith in which the Prophet was quoted as saying: ‘My Ummah (community) will be fragmented into seventy-three sects and all of them will be in the Hell fire except one.’ Inevitably both Sunnis and Shias claim to be the one ‘pure’ Islamic sect. As with any division that lasts over a thousand years, the Sunni-Shia split led to each denomination developing its own unique cultures, doctrines and schools of thought…

“The vast majority of the Muslims in the world are Sunni, amounting to as much as 85% of the religion’s adherents. They are spread all over the globe – from Morocco to Indonesia – and make up the dominant religion in North Africa and the Middle East. Only lran, Iraq, Azerbaijan and Bahrain have a Shia majority, although there are also significant Shia populations in Yemen, Lebanon, Kuwait, Syria and Qatar…”

America’s Questionable Support of Saudi Arabia

The Huffington Post wrote on January 4:

“The killing of Al-Nimr has sparked a massive reaction because he was a prominent religious leader who defended the Shia minority and criticized the abuses — both domestic and foreign — of the Saudi regime. He supported the 2011 anti-government protests in the Eastern Province, protests that erupted in the wake of the Arab Spring… Al-Nimr was arrested and imprisoned in 2012, then convicted of sedition, disobedience and bearing arms. He did not deny the political charges against him, but insisted he never carried weapons or called for violence…

“But instead of insisting on al-Nimr’s release during his years in prison and echoing Amnesty International’s condemnation of his ‘deeply flawed’ trial, the U.S. government was silent. Even after the execution, the U.S. refused to issue a strong denunciation. For decades, U.S. administrations, both Democratic and Republican, have backed the kingdom. The U.S.-Saudi alliance dates back to World War II, when U.S. officials started to see Saudi’s oil as a strategic advantage. Since then, the US has blindly supported the Kingdom in almost every political and economic effort, despite the fact that Saudi Arabia is an ultraconservative monarchy rife with human rights abuses.

“Saudi Arabia has consistently been ranked by Freedom House as one of the worst human rights violators in the world… [earning] the lowest possible score in all three categories of freedom, civil liberties and political rights…”

“Should Germany Stop Exporting Arms to Saudi Arabia?”

Deutsche Welle wrote on January 4:

“Despite official condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s executions, many wonder why Germany doesn’t take action against the kingdom. Critics think arms exports to the country should have been stopped a long time ago…

“In the first half of 2015 alone, Germany approved a number of arms exports to the Gulf region, despite concerns about conflicts and human rights violations. Among the exports approved were 15 patrol boats for Saudi Arabia. The latest report showed that the value of Germany’s arms sales, the world’s fourth-biggest arms exporter, was 3.5 billion euros ($4 billion) in the first six months of 2015 – compared to 2.2 billion euros in the first half of 2014…”

Massive Attacks on Men and Women in Cologne, Germany

Deutsche Welle reported on January 4:

“Police in the western German city of Cologne responded on Monday to outrage over a string of sexual crimes over New Year’s Eve. According to police, the series of assaults in one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares represented a ‘completely new dimension of crime.’… City police chief Wolfgang Albers said the crowd [of attackers] was composed of up to 1,000 heavily intoxicated men who gave the appearance of being ‘Arab or North African’ in background. The police chief told German news agency dpa that the incidents represented ‘an intolerable situation’ for Cologne…

“Speaking with local newspaper ‘Express,’ Ralf Jäger, the state interior minister for North Rhine-Westphalia, promised swift action. ‘We will not accept that groups of North African men gather expressly for the purpose of debasing women by sexually assaulting them,’ the paper quoted Jäger as saying… The leader of the North Rhine-Westphalia branch of Germany’s main police union, Arnold Plickert, called the crimes ‘a massive attack on basic rights’ and said justice must be seen through even if it has ‘politically uncomfortable’ consequences.”

Massive Cover-Up by German Police and Media?

The Local wrote on January 4:

“Men of ‘Arab background’ were likely responsible for sexual assaults on dozens of women in central Cologne over the New Year, police said on Monday – as a social media storm accused police and media of a cover-up…

“A group of around 500 men between the ages of 15 and 35 assembled at the central train station and in the area of the cathedral before throwing firecrackers into the masses of people celebrating the arrival of the new year. This appears to have been a means of causing distraction, as during the disturbance groups of young men entered the crowd where they sexually assaulted women and pick-pocketed revellers. Police then carried out a large-scale operation to clear the area of the miscreants…

“As the extent of the crimes emerged on Monday, the story became the central theme of Twitter… Many people accused the national media of engaging in a cover-up due to the ethnic background of the criminals, with many pointing to the fact that it took days before the details of the story reached national attention. One commentator wrote sarcastically that ‘it is fascinating that the event in Cologne on New Year made it through the media censorship.’…

“MP Steffan Bilger from Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, meanwhile, claimed the events in Cologne were proof Germany needed to reduce its intake of refugees.

“Writing for the Huffington Post Deutschland, Anabel Schunke accused the police of covering up details about the suspected criminals in order to protect public order. Questioning why no details were given on the appearance of the suspects when police called for witnesses, despite plentiful CCTV footage, Schunke suggested that police chose to leave important details out so that the public would not make a connection between the crime and refugees.

“In its details, the case is reminiscent of the mass sexual assaults which took place in north Africa during the huge Arab Spring protests of 2011-2013, Schunke points out, writing of her concern that so many people are moving to Germany from ‘patriarchal, Muslim societies.’”

German Policy Confronted with Hard Questions

Breitbart added a few more uncomfortable questions, stating on January 4:

“Just five arrests have been made by German police after central Cologne was transformed into a war-zone on New Year’s Eve, as an estimated 1,000 migrants celebrated by launching fireworks into crowds and sexually assaulting German women caught up in the chaos.

“The sordid details of the horrifying sexual assaults and attacks made against ordinary Germans by large gangs of migrants in Cologne in the early hours of Friday morning are just now emerging.

“Far from a small number of sex assaults reported to have been made by German speaking men in initial reports on New Year’s Day, dozens of women are now reported to have been molested and ‘raped’, while dozens more men have been assaulted and robbed..

“A press conference hosted by Cologne’s chief of police Wolfgang Albers this afternoon confirmed the attacks had been perpetrated by migrants, all of whom were found to be carrying official immigration paperwork by police officers at the time…

“Despite dozens of men and women having been attacked, the area being comprehensively monitored by CCTV, and having thousands of potential suspects, Cologne police have arrested just five men so far in relation to the new year’s eve attacks. The police chief may yet have serious questions to answer on the attacks, which follow a year of record breaking migration, after it emerged that just ten officers were dispatched to the station after the report of a gang sex assault in the early hours of the morning, and unverified accusations started to circulate on-line of officers even ridiculing a victim for not having been vigilant enough to avoid being attacked…”

It is almost ironic that in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s traditional New Year’s address, she told Germans “they should see the arrival of thousands of migrants as ‘an opportunity’ and warned of divisions in German society” (EUObserver, December 31, 2015). However, it is becoming more and more obvious that Angela Merkel’s policy regarding migrants and refugees has been failing. Backlash is unavoidable. Notice the following articles which paint a really grim and disgusting picture on the situation in Germany.

Germany’s Official Version Vehemently Rejected by German Police 

Die Welt am Sonntag published an explosive article on January 7, stating that German police officers vehemently deny the official version that it is unknown as to who Cologne’s perpetrators and aggressors were. They say that some of them came from North Africa, but most of them were Syrian refugees who had just arrived in Germany. The police officers state that the migrants’ primary goal was to have some “sexual amusement,” and that robbing attendees was only their secondary goal. 

The police officers also declare that they arrested at least hundred migrants and checked their identities, and that this is the reason why they know that most of them were Syrians. They also state that many migrants arrived from outside Cologne, and that at least 2,000 aggressors were involved. But they also point out that many friendly and peaceful Arabs were in the crowd who even asked the police whether New Year’s Eve was always celebrated in Germany in such a brutal fashion, and that they were anxious to get out of the Cologne environment at the main train station.

It is obvious that somebody is lying. 

The Local added the following on January 7:

“A New Year’s Eve police report from Cologne showing the full extent of the sexual assaults against women in and around the city’s main train station appeared in German media on Thursday, causing fresh waves of consternation. ‘We were already informed of the conditions in and around the station as we were arriving at our positions by emotional members of the public with crying and shocked children,’ a high-ranking police officer wrote in a document seen by Spiegel Online and tabloid Bild. ‘On the square outside were several thousand mostly male people of a migrant background who were firing all kinds of fireworks and throwing bottles into the crowd at random.’

“The police vans were themselves the targets of thrown fireworks as they pulled into their parking spaces, and people immediately rushed to the officers to report thefts, violence and sexual assaults against women… ‘State and federal police officers were repeatedly fired on with fireworks and had bottles thrown at them during the clearance,’ the report read. But the chaos around the station continued, with the officer recording ‘numerous crying and shocked women reporting sexual assaults by several male migrants or groups.’ ‘The officers on the ground couldn’t gain control of all of the events, attacks and crimes – there were simply too many at the same time for that to be possible.’

“At some points officers were too busy even to be able to record crimes people were trying to report. The report also notes that many of the perpetrators were mocking police throughout the night and saying they knew they would face no consequences for their actions. Crowds at times prevented officers from reaching people crying out for help and were seen threatening them as they tried to report crimes to the police…”

Attacks in Other German Cities As Well

Breitbart wrote on January 6:

“Although on a smaller scale to the unrestrained and un-policed sex attacks in Cologne, the Berliner Morgenpost has now reported on assaults taking place on the street ‘in front of the Brandenburg gate’ [in Berlin]. The revelation may prove difficult for the German media, which until now has stressed in most reports on the new year’s rapes that Berlin was not caught up in the scandal.

“The paper reports four separate incidents around the city, including a tourist being sexually assaulted by a group of ‘three to five men’, and two women being ‘sexually harassed’ by men from Pakistan and Iraq…

“More analogous to the Cologne attacks were events in Hamburg, where groups of ‘southern or Arab appearance’ men aged between 20 and 40 sexually assaulted dozens of women… [One attacked] girl told Spiegel she thought [the attackers] were [of] ‘foreign origin’.

“In Stuttgart two 18 year old women were assaulted and robbed by a gang of 15 men reports the Stuttgarter Zeitung, as well as an unspecified number of other ‘mostly young women’ victims. Düsseldorf saw at least eleven sexual assaults in the historic city centre by ‘North African’ men…”

The Local added on January 6:

“In scenes similar to those in Cologne, several women have reported New Year sexual assaults to police in Frankfurt… The men were of north African appearance who spoke in broken English with strong Arabic accents, police said… Police in Cologne have received around 90 reports so far, with more from other cities including Hamburg and Stuttgart under similar circumstances taking the total up to 118…

“With no… leads so far, authorities are struggling to make themselves heard when they insist there is no known link to recently arrived refugees… for many conservatives and people on the far-right, news of the events in Cologne has confirmed rumours coursing online in recent months of increasing numbers of sexual crimes by Muslims in Germany.”

Does the Spin in Germany Continue?

The Local reported on January 5, 2016:

“Recently-elected mayor [of Cologne] Henriette Reker… insisted that there was ‘no evidence that we are dealing with people who have received accommodation here in Cologne as refugees.’… Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, meanwhile, said ‘that such a large number of people, apparently from a migrant background, could have carried out these attacks, is a new departure.’”

Infowars reported on January 5:

“German authorities are being accused of covering up a mass sexual assault at Cologne train station on New Years Eve, during which Arab and North African migrants molested dozens of women after fireworks were thrown into a crowd…

“Critics have also pointed to the fact that the story has been ignored by many large German news outlets. In general, English-language mainstream media has also failed to report on what happened, although BBC News did cover the story. ‘Many people accused the national media of engaging in a cover-up due to the ethnic background of the criminals, with many pointing to the fact that it took days before the details of the story reached national attention,’ reports the Local…

“This is not the first time that authorities in Germany have been accused of covering up crimes committed by migrants. After a 13-year-old girl was raped at a migrant camp in Detmold, police buried the incident, fearing it could lead to ‘right wing demonstrations.’ ‘Although the rape took place in June, police kept silent about it for nearly three months, until local media published a story about the crime,’ wrote Soeren Kern. ‘According to an editorial comment in the newspaper Westfalen-Blatt, police are refusing to go public about crimes involving refugees and migrants because they do not want to give legitimacy to critics of mass migration.’

“As the Gatestone Institute documents, reports of migrants raping women in and around migrant camps in Germany have exploded since the country opened its borders to around a million ‘refugees’ last year.”

Tough Questions for German “Legal” System

Deutsche Welle wrote on January 6:

“There is no doubt about who the perpetrators were: they were young, male and looked North African or Arab. Unfailingly, this has brought the migration and refugee debate to a new level… The sexist assaults only became public much later than New Year’s Eve. And it wasn’t the police who made the incredible events public either: It was the female victims whose criminal complaints got the ball rolling, bringing to light an issue that is a massive threat to the city’s social peace.

“The night of the uncontrolled male mob in the vicinity of Cologne Cathedral is closely linked to the all-encompassing refugee topic. It polarizes German society like nothing else has in a long time… That’s the last thing we need after an historic 2015, when more than 1.1 million refugees were so enamored with Germany that they wanted to be evacuated to nowhere else but here – all within a single year…

“Cologne, too, now faces a change in mood. Once prejudices against ‘the foreigners’ begin to dominate the public debate, warnings against simplification will barely be heard. Agitation against refugees and asylum-seekers on the Internet could hardly be more aggressive than it is now. Xenophobia is fashionable again…

“This phenomenon, however, shouldn’t divert attention from the fact that the problem of criminals migrating to Germany along with other refugees went unnoticed for a long time. Surely, the refugees aren’t all well-behaved fathers. The perpetrators in Cologne were young and male – as is the vast majority of the refugees that entered Germany in 2015.

“Other masculinity norms legitimizing violence have arrived in Germany along with the refugees, a problem that has become more real than ever before. A growing population thanks to migration from Muslim countries calls for novel ways of thinking and new action…

“It defies common sense that delinquent refugees, perhaps even repeat offenders, can’t be deported. Bars ban drunks who go on a rampage from their premises; people who light pyrotechnics are banned from soccer stadiums. But refugees and asylum-seekers would have to commit murder before they’re deported. In the wake of the Cologne incidents, the number of Germans who understand this legal situation is bound to dwindle.”

Backlash from the Right

Deutsche Welle wrote on January 6:

“The right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has been one of several groups to seize on the attacks as fuel for its anti-migrant rhetoric. ‘Here we see the appalling consequences of catastrophic asylum and migration policies on Germany’s everyday realities,’ said party leader Frauke Petry.”

Donald Trump wrote the following on Twitter: “Germany is going through massive attacks to its people by the migrants allowed to enter the country. New Years Eve was a disaster. THINK!”

The mass tabloid Bild and Stern Online responded in typically ridiculous fashion: “Trump poebelt gegen Deutschland” (“Trump abuses (or attacks) Germany.”)

Breitbart reported on January 6:

“German counter migration movement the Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West (PEGIDA) have called a mass protest for this Saturday afternoon at the square outside the railway station where the attacks happened. Announced within the past few hours, the march is likely to attract thousands, and not just of long-standing PEGIDA members, but also of ordinary Germans and the citizens of Cologne.

“For many, the realisation that the German mainstream media and government have been apparently colluding in the cover-up of migrant sexual violence has provided a sudden and rude political awakening. PEGIDA protests in the past have fielded upwards of 30,000 marchers to protest the Islamisation of Europe, and have been characterised by the broad cross section of society who have joined their ranks…”

Did North Korea Develop a Hydrogen Bomb?

The New York Times wrote on January 6:

“North Korea declared on Tuesday that it had detonated its first hydrogen bomb. The assertion, if true, would dramatically escalate the nuclear challenge from one of the world’s most isolated and dangerous states… The North’s announcement came about an hour after detection devices around the world had picked up a 5.1 seismic event along the country’s northeast coast. It may be weeks or longer before detectors sent aloft by the United States and other powers can determine what kind of test was conducted…

“The North is believed to have enough plutonium for eight to 12 weapons, and several years ago it revealed a new program to enrich uranium, the other fuel for a nuclear weapon. But if the North Korean claim about a hydrogen bomb is true, this test was of a different, and significantly more threatening, nature…”

China’s Stock Market Plummets

The Los Angeles Times wrote on January 4:

“On Monday, the new year’s first day of trading, China’s benchmark Shanghai composite index fell 6.9% to 3,296.66, its lowest level in nearly three months. The Shenzhen composite plunged 8.1%, marking its worst day in nine years. The drop triggered ‘circuit breakers’ for both markets, closing them early to halt the panicked slide…

“Economists expect China this year to record its lowest growth rate in a quarter of a century, as the country struggles with excess capacity, piles of government debt and weakening demand for key commodities.”

China’s stock market crash affected markets around the world, with Asia and Europe down -3 percent and U.S. markets down 1.7 percent. CNBC wrote that the Dow Jones closed down triple digits, with the “worst opening day in 8 years.” Express wrote that Britain experienced the “worst stock market start of the CENTURY” and that its “top stock market lost billions of pounds today, prompting fears over invested pension savings.”

Chinese Stocks Collapse Again

The Huffington Post wrote on January 7:

“Chinese stock markets packed enough drama for a few months into a spectacularly condensed half-hour collapse on Thursday. And as they did earlier this week, U.S. stocks are also falling. China’s CSI 300 stock index plummeted 5 percent in the first 10 minutes of trading…”

Bloomberg added on January 7:

“The worst start to a year in global stocks since 2000 extended to a fourth day, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing more than 200 points, as turmoil emanating from China spread around the world and billionaire George Soros warned that a larger crisis may be brewing.”

Most Americans One Paycheck Away from the Street

Market Watch reported on January 6:

“Americans are starting 2016 with more job security, but most are still theoretically only one paycheck away from the street. Approximately 63% of Americans have no emergency savings for things such as a $1,000 emergency room visit or a $500 car repair… Faced with an emergency, they say they would raise the money by reducing spending elsewhere (23%), borrowing from family and/or friends (15%) or using credit cards to bridge the gap (15%).

“This lack of emergency savings could be a problem for millions of Americans. More than four in 10 Americans either experienced a major unexpected expense over the past 12 months or had an immediate family member who had an unexpected expense…

“Why aren’t people saving? Millions of Americans are struggling with student loans, medical bills and other debts… Indeed, personal savings rates as a percentage of disposable income dropped from 11% in December 2012 to 4.6% in August 2015… and now hover at 5.5%.

“… the amount of wealth held by the middle class is shrinking. The share of income held by middle-income families has plunged to 43% of households in 2015 versus 62% in 1970…”

Harvard Professor Fired by Hospital for His Critical Views on LGBT

The Blaze wrote on December 31:

“Can a hospital fire a physician who doesn’t support LGBT views and practices? One Boston hospital just did. After a legal battle that lasted more than 10 years, Dr. Paul Church of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) lost his final appeal to the hospital’s Board of Directors to reconsider the center’s decision to fire him and revoke his medical privileges.

“Church, a urology professor at Harvard University, disagreed with BIDMC’s institutional endorsement of LGBT causes. The hospital ordered his expulsion after discovering that Church had expressed concerns about the health dangers related to same-sex activity on the hospital’s internal online portal…

“‘Celebrating sexual perversions is highly inappropriate, especially in the context of a medical center that should be aware of the negative health consequences of high risk behaviors,’ Church wrote in 2013…

“Church said that he intends to continue his medical practice elsewhere while striving to fulfill his professional duties ‘by advocating for healthy and moral choices.’”

Vast Majority of Brainwashed Scientists and Teachers Believe in Unbiblical Evolution

The Washington Post wrote on December 17:

“… the National Science Teachers Association strongly supports the teaching of evolution (and only evolution)… Although 98 percent of scientists connected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science say they believe that humans evolved over time, only 66 percent of Americans surveyed by Pew believe that science has reached a consensus on the issue.

“Nearly a third of Americans reject evolution entirely, and around half of those who accept it as good science still believe that a higher power played a part in the process…”

As the article strongly suggests, scientists do NOT even believe in a “theistic” evolution (although that concept is not biblical either). The scientists’ concept of evolution is totally atheistic.

Attempted Abortion a Crime, Successful Abortion Not a Crime?

CBS News reported on December 17:

“A Tennessee woman is charged with attempted first-degree murder for what investigators say was a failed abortion attempt… [The woman, 31] filled a bathtub with water and attempted to self-abort with a coat hanger. She began bleeding and became worried about her safety…

“Her boyfriend took her to the hospital where doctors delivered a 24-week-old baby weighing just 1.5 pounds. Doctors told investigators the child will need medical support for the rest of his life because of the injuries he sustained.”

This is indeed a very tragic situation. But this question must be allowed: If a woman can be charged with attempted murder for trying unsuccessfully to abort her baby, how in the world can the law allow a woman to successfully abort her baby and not being charged with murder? Clearly, there is something awfully rotten in our legal system.

Why Is January 1 Celebrated as New Year’s Day?

The Washington Post wrote on December 31:

“Starting the new year on the first of January feels counterintuitive. We mark a fresh beginning in the dead of winter, when the days are shorter and the nights are colder…

“Jan. 1 isn’t the only New Year’s Day; many religious and cultural communities also observe their own calendars. But much of the world abides by the Gregorian calendar’s solar dating system…

“When the Romans used a lunar calendar, the year began in March, on the day the new consul took office. But by 153 B.C., with the addition of some months, consuls assumed office on Jan. 1.

“There’s also some religious significance, as January had a festival for Janus, the god of gates, or beginnings. As the Greek-born historian and philosopher Plutarch wrote, one explanation invoked the legendary first king of Rome, Romulus, ‘a warrior and a lover of battle, and was thought to be a son of Mars,’ who preferred March, named after … Mars.

“But then a king named Numa, ‘a lover of peace and whose ambition was to turn the city towards husbandry and to divert it from war, gave precedence to January,’ named after Janus ‘a statesman and husbandman rather than a warrior.’

“How do you feel about Roman gods and kings helping dictate your calendar circa 2016?… even Plutarch acknowledged the arbitrary nature of picking the start to the Roman calendar…

“This Roman system had some problems. By the time Julius Caesar came onto the scene, the lunar-based Roman calendar had fallen out of sync with the seasons, creating an organizational mess. So with the help of an Alexandrian astronomer, and using the Egyptian solar calendar as a foundation, Caesar introduced what’s now known as the Julian calendar in about 46 B.C. Like its Roman predecessor, it started in January…

“By the 1500s, the vernal equinox fell back 10 days… Pope Gregory XII commissioned a reform to fix the problem… It also codified Jan. 1 as the official start of the new year, keeping with its predecessor… Though Catholic states adopted it, Orthodox churches and Protestant states initially rejected the timetable in favor of the ‘Old Style’ Julian calendar. Many Orthodox churches strictly observed the Julian calendar until World War I; some still adhere to a version of it… It wasn’t until 1752 when the Brits gave in to the Gregorian calendar and changed the New Year’s Day to Jan. 1…

“Even though Gregorian is how most of us function day-to-day, many religious communities and cultures have their own calendars. There are religious calendars, such as from the Muslim, Hindu and Jewish traditions, that dictate holiday observances and fasts and begin anew at many different points throughout the Gregorian year.

“For instance, the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah comes between September and October on the Gregorian calendar [Our comment: Rosh Hashanah or the Feast of Trumpets marks the beginning of a new year according to the CIVIL calendar. The religious new year begins in March/April according to the Hebrew calendar.] The Coptic Church also observes new year in September. The Islamic new year fluctuates…

“Doesn’t spring — the very season of renewal — feel like a more natural time to kick off a year?…”

The Church of God follows the Hebrew calendar in determining the annual Holy Days, as commanded by God. For more information, please read our free booklets, “The Meaning of God’s Spring Holy Days,” and “The Meaning of God’s Fall Holy Days.” 

2015—A World on Edge

The Financial Times wrote on December 28:

“Battered, bruised and jumpy — the whole world is on edge. Not one global power is optimistic…

“In 2015, a sense of unease and foreboding seemed to settle on all the world’s major power centres. From Beijing to Washington, Berlin to Brasília, Moscow to Tokyo — governments, media and citizens were jumpy and embattled.

“This kind of globalised anxiety is unusual. For the past 30 years and more, there has been at least one world power that was bullishly optimistic… Yet at the moment all the big players seem uncertain — even fearful…

“On the political and security front, the implosion of the Middle East continues. Outside powers have proved unable to restore order to the region and are finding that disorder is spreading to Africa and Europe, in the form of refugees and jihadi terrorism.

“The biggest common factor is… a bubbling anti-elite sentiment, combining anxiety about inequality and rage about corruption that is visible in countries as different as France, Brazil, China and the US. In America and Europe, such complaints are often linked to a pervasive narrative of national decline. These social and economic anxieties have political side effects, fuelling a demand for ‘strong’ leaders, such as Mr Xi, Mr Trump or Vladimir Putin of Russia…

“The global gloom makes the international political system feel like a patient that is still struggling to recover from a severe illness which began with the financial crisis of 2008… Another severe shock, such as a major terrorist attack or a serious economic downturn, could spell real trouble…”

2015 — A Horrible Year

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 31:

“2015 was a horrible and depressing year. It was a year of crises, of war and of catastrophes. It was a year of things starting to unravel, of shows of force and of monstrous terror… The world is in political disarray and on the move. And the center of this commotion is the Middle East… terrorism is starting to spread out from the Middle East…

“Meanwhile, Europe has been dealing with war on its front doorstep, in Ukraine… Russia – despite all the sanctions against it – is back on the world stage… Obama’s USA is focusing on itself again… He knows that America can’t solve all of the world’s problems, and he knows it doesn’t want to, either.

“2015… has shown that crises around the world are starting to merge at a global level… countries are pursuing nationalist political interests… That is why 2015 was such a horrible, depressing and difficult year. And also because there is not much reason to hope that things will be any better in 2016, either.”

2015—A Year of International and National Violence and Domestic Turmoil for the USA

Deutsche Welle reported on December 27:

“It’s been a year of violence, unrest and historic change for the United States – both at home and abroad. With a presidential election just around the corner, the country’s future course is far from settled.

“President Barack Obama broke two major taboos in US foreign policy this year: he re-established diplomatic ties with Cuba, and cut a deal with Iran over its nuclear program… The nuclear deal with Iran has sparked fierce opposition from one of America’s closest allies, Israel…

“While negotiating with US adversaries, the president sought to end the country’s controversial wars. The rise of the self-styled jihadist group ‘Islamic State’ (‘IS’), however, has upended those plans. Three years after withdrawing, US troops have returned to Iraq in small numbers to combat ‘IS.’ In October, the president decided to keep more than 5,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan after he leaves office to check a resurgent Taliban and budding ‘IS’ branch…

“Domestically, gay and lesbian Americans won the right to marry nationwide over the summer, capping a decades-long struggle and a sea change in public attitudes toward homosexuality.  Earlier this month, the military opened combat positions to women, one of the few areas in the country where gender discrimination was still official policy…

“Muslims have been the target of increasingly discriminatory rhetoric in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California. Thirty-one governors oppose resettling Syrian refugees, while Republican front-runner Donald Trump has called for an outright ban on Muslims entering the United States. Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush said the US should focus on settling Syrian Christians…

“Racial tensions have also been running high amid recurring incidents of unarmed African Americans dying at the hands of police. In the case of Baltimore, April protests boiled over into riots… In June, a white supremacist opened fire in a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, killing nine worshipers… The massacre sparked a renewed debate on white supremacy in America and its symbols, particularly the Confederate flag – which represents the former slave-holding states of the south.

“The shooting spree in Charleston was one of 30 mass killings in the United States this year…

“The political environment is ripe for outsiders. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the US is witnessing a level of income inequality not seen since the 1920s. Nearly eight years after Obama was first elected president, Americans are still looking for change.”

2015—The Year of Terror in Europe

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 30:

“The year 2015 began as it ended: with shots ringing out in terror attacks in the heart of Paris…

“European politicians… promised solidarity and aid… the end of this year of terror saw the formation of an unlikely coalition that intends to take action against ‘Islamic State’… the USA, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, France and Turkey are all… pursuing totally different goals in the region…

“Germany and other European allies such as Great Britain and Denmark are now intent on putting their declared solidarity into action. The states have mobilized their air forces for the war against ‘IS.’ German Chancellor Angela Merkel… ordered the deployment of Tornado reconnaissance planes, a naval ship and a fueling aircraft to Syria. Security authorities have warned that Germany, too, has long been a potential target for terrorists, and more than ever at the end of the year…

“The European Union is promising France military assistance according to Paragraph 42 of the Lisbon Treaty. That’s never been the case before… The intended result is to have more monitoring of travel and money transfers…

“The open inner borders in Europe are doubly under pressure: first, because of the refugees who have been coming to the continent for months without being controlled, and secondly, because of the realization that terrorists with EU passports can obviously travel unhindered or mingle with the influx of refugees and thus arrive in France from Syria without being recognized. German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere has called for better protection of the EU’s external borders… From there, terror attacks are being coordinated and carried out in Europe… A joint border guard is to be set up…

“Nearly all the traces left by the perpetrators of the Paris terror attacks lead to Belgium. The attacks were apparently prepared in the Brussels district of Molenbeek, an Islamist stronghold that has long been known to the Belgian authorities… Soldiers are patrolling the streets at the end of the year 2015. Will that offer protection against jihadists?…”

“2015: The Year Merkel Became Europe’s Boss”

The Local wrote on December 28:

“In a year of crises for Europe, from the Ukraine war to Greece’s debt turmoil to the historic refugee influx, Germany’s Angela Merkel emerged as the continent’s de facto leader, drawing more praise and fire than ever. Whether spearheading EU diplomacy with Moscow, bargaining with Athens over tough bail-out terms or responding to the world’s biggest refugee wave since World War II — Merkel was in the middle, again and again.

“At a time of growing uncertainty and division in Europe, the pragmatic quantum chemist whom Germans call ‘Mutti’, or mummy, preached fiscal rectitude and humanitarian principles, often drawing a mixed response. Her unusually bold move to throw open Germany’s doors to Syrian refugees has particularly battered her long-stellar poll ratings at home, and left the leader of Europe’s top economy isolated on key issues in the 28-member EU. ‘2015 has been an incredible year, hard to comprehend really,’ said the 61-year-old chancellor, who is not usually given to hyperbole, at a congress of her centre-right party this month. ‘I’ve never experienced such a rapid sequence of highly significant events.’

“That was quite a statement for the Protestant pastor’s daughter, who grew up behind the Iron Curtain and lived through the fall of the Berlin Wall a quarter-century ago… The rise of Germany’s influence during Merkel’s decade in power has often unsettled European neighbours. When an unyielding Merkel told debt-hit eurozone members to slash public spending, she was caricatured as an austerity dominatrix in Nazi garb who deployed accountants rather than tanks…

“Merkel won over some of her harshest critics with her decision in September to open the doors to a record wave of refugees who were heading in, many on foot, from Budapest. The country that once sent rail carriage-loads of people into concentration camps was now cheering as trains arrived packed with refugees from war-torn Syria, in moving TV footage seen around the world… In rare unanimity, media organisations including Agence France-Presse, Time magazine and the Financial Times declared the long-time ‘Queen of Europe’ the world’s most influential person of 2015.

“New York Times columnist Roger Cohen wrote that ‘she has become a towering European figure, certainly the equal of such postwar German giants as Konrad Adenauer, Helmut Schmidt and Helmut Kohl — perhaps even surpassing them’…

“Many Germans, however, now have doubts, fearing that Merkel, their trusted guarantor of stability, is plunging the country into chaos. Polls point to growing fears about the influx of mostly Muslims, a right-wing populist party has been gathering steam and there has been a spike in racist hate crimes. ‘Germany is definitely split,’ said Oskar Niedermayer of Berlin’s Free University. ‘In general, Merkel and her work are still very highly regarded, but on the refugee crisis a majority think she is pursuing the wrong policy.’

“Merkel’s plan to avoid a million more arrivals next year is based in large part on convincing other EU members to accept more refugees. Yet the response so far has ranged from deafening silence to howls of protest. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban rejected Germany’s ‘moral imperialism’ and sealed national borders with razor wire, while Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka charged that Merkel had ‘encouraged illegal migration’ to Europe. Even European Council president Donald Tusk labelled Merkel’s migrants policy ‘dangerous’.

“At the party congress, Merkel conceded that the refugee influx…  presented an ‘enormous’ task and would change the country forever. ‘It is a historic challenge for Europe, and I say we want Europe to meet this challenge,’ she said, to thundering applause. ‘And I am convinced it will.’

“Niedermayer said that Merkel, in her best speech so far, had ‘bought herself a few months, but not more’ while voters and her own party base would likely grow more impatient. ‘That’s why 2016 will be the true acid test.’”

Will the Deutschmark Replace the Euro? No Way!

On December 30, the Local published an article with the following headline: “Supermarket to accept Deutschmarks again.” But before anti-Euro politicians, parties and demonstrators get all excited, one has to read on:

 “Kaufland supermarkets will be accepting the former German currency at their cashiers. To support the campaign, many of the company’s products will also be given a 1960s design to enhance the nostalgic theme. But the food giant hasn’t suddenly been bought over by right-wing political party the Alternative for Germany (AfD) – who famously want to reintroduce the old German currency. Instead, this is a limited campaign, lasting from January 4th until January 30th, and the aim is to get Germans to use the old currency they still have lying around. The estimated value of that currency is over €6 billion.

“A spokesperson for the company told The Local that customers can do all their normal shopping but pay with the currency which went out of use in 2002. The cashier will then calculate the payment based on an exchange rate of 1 Euro to 1.95 DM, a rate which has remained unchanged for 14 years… Calculations made by the Federal Bank in November estimate that 168 million Deutschmark notes and 24 billion coins were never exchanged. In fact these estimations suggest that around 54 percent of Deutschmark coins are still in the hands of the general public.

“But bankers also reckon that a large proportion of this booty no longer exists – or at least is no longer to be found in Germany. Many smaller coins will have simply been lost, while special edition silver coins could have been melted down to take advantage of the high price of silver in recent years, the Federal bank believes. Meanwhile, because the Deutschmark was used as a stable currency in the countries of former Yugoslavia for many years, other coins and notes were taken out of Germany years ago.”

Germany Criticizes Greece; Pleads for a EU Army; Establishes Special Classes for Foreign Children

The EUobserver wrote on December 29:

“Germany’s finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who has often been on collision course with Greek politicians over the last years of the country’s debt crisis, on Sunday (27 December) told Bild am Sonntag that Athens has for years ignored the rules that oblige migrants to file for asylum in the EU country they arrive in first. He recalled that German courts decided that refugees were being treated inhumanely in Greece, therefore it is not possible to send asylum seekers back there…

“Athens has been pushed to accept EU help to patrol its islands, where most migrants land from Turkey, and additional EU staff to help with fingerprinting new arrivals. Greece’s reluctance to accept EU assistance has also given birth to an EU Commission proposal to be able to send European border guards to a country in crisis at the external border area of the passport-free Schengen travel zone, even without that country’s consent…

“Schaeuble also said, the refugee influx meant that European countries will have to increase spending on defence. ‘Ultimately our aim must be a joint European army. The funds that we spend on our 28 national armies could be used far more effectively together,’ Schaeuble was quoted as saying. Earlier this year, EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker also called for the gradual establishment of an EU army. He said the European Union needs its own army to help address the problem that it is not ‘taken entirely seriously’ as an international force.

“Faced with refugees from war torn areas in the Middle East and Asia, Germany has also stepped up efforts to play a more visible role in international affairs. In December, lawmakers approved a mission to Syria, which includes sending six Tornado reconnaissance jets, a frigate to help protect a French aircraft carrier, a refueling aircraft, and 1,200 military staff…

“Germany stepped up efforts at home too to accommodate the unprecedented number of new arrivals, many of whom are children in need of education. The country has recruited 8,500 people to teach child refugees German… With some 196,000 children fleeing war and poverty entering the German school system this year, 8,264 ‘special classes’ have been created to help the new arrivals catch up with their peers… According to Germany’s education authority, 325,000 school-age children reached the EU country in 2015.”

German MPs Angry at NATO Plane Mission

The Local wrote on December 27:

“A Nato force of reconnaissance planes that includes German personnel will be sent to help Turkey police its border, drawing ire from politicians in Germany who said on Sunday they were not consulted. ‘The government must immediately inform parliament of the details of this deployment, in particular what missions will be assigned to these planes and the destination of any data they collect,” Tobias Lindner, the green party’s head of defence matters, demanded…

“Though the mission involves sending German troops abroad, the government said it has no plans to consult the Bundestag, Germany’s lower house of parliament… It was not immediately clear how many planes were to be sent to help Ankara ‘ensure Turkish security’ in view of conflicts in neighbouring Syria and Iraq…

“The head of the Bundestag’s defence committee, Social Democrat Wolfgang Hellmich, said the timing of the news was ‘a bit curious’ given that lawmakers were away for the holidays and have not yet taken up the matter.”

One has to wonder whether the German government is trying to secretly “pull a fast one,” while keeping the German people and even German MPs in the dark.

US Foreign Arms Sales Reach Astronomical Height

The New York Times wrote on December 25:

“Foreign arms sales by the United States jumped by almost $10 billion in 2014, about 35 percent… American weapons receipts rose to $36.2 billion in 2014 from $26.7 billion the year before, bolstered by multibillion-dollar agreements with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and South Korea. Those deals and others ensured that the United States remained the single largest provider of arms around the world last year, controlling just over 50 percent of the market.

“Russia followed the United States as the top weapons supplier, completing $10.2 billion in sales, compared with $10.3 billion in 2013. Sweden was third, with roughly $5.5 billion in sales, followed by France with $4.4 billion and China with $2.2 billion.

“South Korea, a key American ally, was the world’s top weapons buyer in 2014, completing $7.8 billion in contracts. It has faced continued tensions with neighboring North Korea in recent years over the North’s nuclear weapons program and other provocations. The bulk of South Korea’s purchases, worth more than $7 billion, were made with the United States and included transport helicopters and related support, as well as advanced unmanned aerial surveillance vehicles.

“Iraq followed South Korea, with $7.3 billion in purchases intended to build up its military in the wake of the American troop withdrawal there. Brazil, another developing nation building its military force, was third with $6.5 billion worth of purchase agreements, primarily for Swedish aircraft.

“The report to Congress found that total global arms sales rose slightly in 2014 to $71.8 billion, from $70.1 billion in 2013…

“Despite the competition, the report concluded that, given its positioning, the United States was likely to remain the dominant supplier of arms to developing nations in coming years…”

What utter insanity!

Holocaust Denial on the Rise in Eastern Europe

Ynetnews.com wrote on December 29:

“The testimonies are fading away, the memorial sites are turning into entertainment centers, and the historical story is seen as just another ‘Jewish narrative’: If anyone thought that Holocaust denial was a marginal phenomenon among a few anti-Semites and Israel haters, evidence shows that is it a much wider, more well-established and dangerous phenomenon that is receiving reinforcement on the ground from eastern European countries.

“In Lithuania, for example, people are doing everything to downplay the significance of the horrors of the war as a unique event in the history of mankind, and in Ukraine a famous mass murder site has turned into a thriving jogging spot. According to Dr. Efraim Zuroff, a Nazi hunter and director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center office in Jerusalem, many countries have adopted an intentional policy leading to de facto Holocaust denial…

“Dr. Zuroff pointed at Lithuania as the country leading the change… He says there is an attempt to conceal and blur the eastern Europeans’ role in the massacre. ‘In Lithuania there was a systematic killing of Jews by the local population,’ he explained. ‘That is the reason why 96 percent of the Jews there did not survive and many communities were completely erased. The intentional goal is to conceal this fact. ‘The mass murderers of Jews among the local population are perceived as national heroes because of their war against the communists, and streets, squares and governmental institutions have been named after them…’

“Lithuania is not alone… ‘soft denial’ is taking place in Baltic countries like Estonia and Latvia, as well as in Poland, Croatia and Hungary… many Poles were far from being righteous gentiles, but… rather played a role in the annihilation in wide areas in Poland as the Nazis’ active partners…  sites of mass killing across Europe are being deserted or turned into parks which attract families on Sundays… The Babi Yar mass murder site in the heart of Kiev, where one of the deadliest massacres in Eastern Europe took place, has become a green band of jogging and baby strollers…

“According to Dr. Zuroff, Eastern European countries’ efforts to ‘conceal the evidence’ and blur history have increased since the Baltic countries became part of the European Union… The EU is keeping quiet… the leading countries in Holocaust denial today have good relations with Israel, even if they may be anti-Semitic towards Jews. So instead of crying out against what was done to the Holocaust victims, Israel is keeping quiet…

“According to Zuroff, the United States… is keeping quiet too, as are France and Germany. ‘The fact that there are countries in Europe which have not taken responsibility for the Holocaust must be acknowledged. In Austria, for example, they are still using all kinds of legal measures to prevent the prosecution of Nazi war criminals. Only recently, they rejected our request to try a woman who was responsible for putting women in gas chambers, arguing that she only played “a passive role” which she cannot be prosecuted for… We must understand that we are standing at a decisive junction in the history of the Holocaust. Most of the survivors can no longer cry out and speak, so it’s our mission to make sure that Europe, which wants to forget, will not forget.’”

Yehudah Glick to Become Member of Parliament?

The Times of Israel wrote on December 27:

“Yehudah Glick is undeterrable. Last year, he survived an assassination attempt when a Palestinian shot him four times at point-blank range. Before firing, the terrorist had called Glick an ‘enemy of al-Aqsa’ for his vocal advocacy on behalf of Jews’ rights on the Temple Mount.

“But Glick is not backing down. Even now that Israel finds itself in the middle of an extended terror wave, which is to a large extent inspired by Muslim concerns over the Jews’ alleged intention to destroy the al-Aqsa mosque, Glick does not intend to stop calling for Jews to be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. And he might soon be able to make his case as a member of Israel’s parliament. ‘Just as I do it today outside the Knesset, I’ll try to do it inside the Knesset,’ the 50-year-old redhead told The Times of Israel this week in Jerusalem. ‘If I am in the Knesset, I will try do my best to change the situation on [the] Temple Mount.’…

“Jews can currently visit the contested site but are forbidden from praying there. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asserted numerous times in recent months that he does not wish to change this arrangement — the so-called status quo — which has been in place ever since Israeli troops captured Jerusalem’s Old City in the 1967 Six Day War… But currently, Jews can’t even go up there without being harassed, argued Glick, the director of the Temple Mount Heritage Foundation…

“Glick… is next in line to enter parliament for the Likud party. In internal Likud elections before the general election in March, he placed 33rd on the party’s roster for Knesset, which seemed like a long shot. But then Likud surprisingly got 30 seats. After that, Danny Danon left to become Israel’s ambassador to the UN. And now Silvan Shalom is quitting politics amid harassment allegations. If one more Likud MK drops out, Glick will be sworn in as a lawmaker.

“Political pundits say it’s not unlikely that rabble-rousing MK Oren Hazan, currently barred from participating in parliamentary debates because of his behavior in the House, will be forced to quit the Knesset. A recent state comptroller report accused him of severely violating campaign finance laws and he now faces a three-year prison sentence. According to the abridged version of the so-called Norwegian Law, which the Knesset passed in July, government ministers may also quit the parliament while holding on to their ministerial portfolios, freeing up their seat.

“One way or another, Yehudah Glick could become Yehudah Glick MK pretty soon… In preparation for that possible future position, Glick has been regularly attending the Likud’s weekly faction meetings. Ideologically, he appears a good match: like most Likud MKs… he rejects Palestinian statehood…

“Left-wing groups and even centrist politicians… argue that any change to the fragile status quo on the Temple Mount has the potential to inflame the entire Arab world. Some worry that any move advancing Jewish rights at the site could spark World War III…”

Even though the article only reports about Glick’s ambition to allow Jews free access to the Temple Mount to be able to pray there, it is worthwhile noticing that Glick previously worked as the executive director of The Temple Institute, a group that supports the building of the Third Temple on the Temple Mount. Glick has been referred to in the Israeli press as a Temple Mount activist and a Third Temple activist.

The Bible shows that a Third Temple will be built, even though some biblical readers claim the opposite. Their argument is correct that sacrifices were offered at the time of Ezra before the Second Temple had been built (Ezra 3:1-6); however, those sacrifices were only given because it was settled that the Temple would be built (Ezra 3:8-13); further, it is not a question as to whether a Temple is “needed,” but whether it is going to be built in these end times. Paul’s statement in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 that just prior to Christ’s return, the false prophet—the man of lawlessness—will sit in the Temple of God, claiming to be God, REQUIRES the building and existence of a literal Temple. The notion that the “Temple” could refer in this context to the Church of God—a symbolical spiritual Temple—is preposterous.

No Christ in “Christmas”!

MSN wrote on December 25:

“How do you keep the Christ in Christmas if your language doesn’t have a Christ in it to begin with? The languages of the world have quite a variety of names for Christmas… And many of them have nothing to do with Christ.

“Christmas lands right at the same time as winter solstice festivals that were celebrated long before the coming of Christianity. That’s likely an important reason Christmas is celebrated when it is: to co-opt the pagan festivals. (Jesus probably wasn’t actually born on December 25. Scholars — including, in a 2012 book, Pope Benedict XVI — have raised many questions and made many suggestions about his actual birth date.) And Christmas isn’t the only Christian celebration to co-opt pagan festivals: Hallowe’en and All Saints’ Day take over from a fall festival, for instance, and Easter gets its English name — and those eggs and bunnies — from a pagan goddess, Eostre. Likewise, Christmas gets its trees and holly and mistletoe and even its gift-giving traditions from pre-Christian religious celebrations, and in many languages it gets its name from them too.

“Take Yule, for instance (Old English spelling: Geol). Yule featured trees, logs, boars, carol-singing, and feasting at night. It appears in Scandinavian languages as Jul (or, in Iceland and the Faroe Islands, Jól) and was borrowed into Finnish as Joulu and Estonian as Jõulud — all now their words for Christmas. Yule was a festival of a holy night (or nights), and that’s where [the] German name for Christmas, Weihnachten, comes from: Middle High German wihen nahten, ‘holy night’ (also converted by Czech into Vánoce). Oh, yes, it’s holy for Christians too. It was easy enough to convert the festival to Christianity. Other nearby countries had winter festivals, too. In Latvian, Christmas is Ziemassvētki, which means… ‘winter festival.’

“The Romans had a similar festival: the day of the birth of the unconquered sun. In Latin, that’s dies natalis solis invicti. Just as the festival came to celebrate the birth not of the sun but of the son (of God), that word natalis, ‘of the birth,’ changed over time as Latin split into different languages. It became French Noël, Italian Natale, Spanish Navidad, and Portuguese Natal. Celtic languages also borrowed it: Gaelic Nollaig, Welsh Nadolig, and Breton Nedeleg.

“Romanian also came from Latin, but in Romanian, Christmas is Crăciun, which is thought to come from Latin calatio, the name of a calling together of the people by priests — pre-Christian ones. Hungarian uses another version of the same word, Karácsony. In Lithuanian, Christmas is Kalėdos, which has an unclear origin but may come from the same source or a related one.

“Birth shows up in other languages’ names for Christmas, and it’s not always easy to say whether the term started in reference to the birth of Jesus or whether it was carried over from a reference to a pagan birth (as of the sun god, for instance). In Polish it’s Boże Narodzenie, ‘birth of God.’ Croatian Božić is a similar reference to God (or a god)…”

This should tell us a lot about the true origin of Christmas.

Religion and Belief in God a Product of Atheistic Evolution?

If you have never read a ridiculous article by God-defying atheists, then here is a classic example.  It shows HOW FAR this evil and rotten world has departed from the true God. Satan must have a field day in reading [and inspiring] this nonsense. First, scientists taught atheistic evolution. Now, they are beginning to teach that atheistic evolution produced religion and a belief in a (non-existing) God, and that the Bible is a fabrication of “fearful” men. This is truly abominable, and woe to those scientists and teachers who fill the heads of our children with such blasphemous thoughts.

The Daily Mail wrote on December 25:

“Religion is often seen as being at odds with the science of evolution, but according to a growing area of research, it may actually be a product of this fundamental biological process. Fear of incurring the wrath of God, or a range of gods, may have played a key role in the development of our species, according to a leading expert in the evolution of human co-operation. He argues that belief in a divine being who will punish bad behaviour may have allowed humans to co-operate in a way our relatives in the animal kingdom do not…

“… it appears floods, famines and plagues may have… helped to start belief in some gods in the first place… The findings may help to shed light on how religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam first emerged and why stories of hardship play such a central role…”

And if that was not enough, an accompanying article suggested that “it is possible to significantly change a person’s beliefs simply by targeting their brain with magnets… People who were subjected to this treatment reported that their belief in God dropped by a third following the stimulation, while there was an increase in positive feelings towards immigrants…”

Indeed, Satan has brain-washed the entire world, and he is now using “educated” scientists to continue doing so. Please also note the following article about Professor Richard Dawkins, an atheist and one of the leading Evolutionists.

Richard Dawkins Attacks Islam… and other Religions

Express wrote on December 28:

“The furious academic walked out of an interview when a Muslim journalist confirmed he personally believed the prophet Muhammad flew to heaven on a winged horse. Dawkins… told the New Statesmen’s Emad Ahmed that his belief was ‘pathetic’ before angrily storming off… [He said on Twitter]: ‘I left when he said Muhammad rode a winged horse. A non-timewasting journalist needs at least SOME grasp of reality.’ He added: ‘Ridiculing belief in a winged horse is not “bigotry”, not “Islamophobia”, not “racism”. It’s sober, decent, gentle, scientific realism.’…

“The attack on Islamic belief is the latest in a long line by Dawkins. Last month he said Islamic culture could ‘go to…’ on a live TV chat show in the United States when referring to some practices in Islam, such as women being made to wear burkhas. Nor is it… the first time Dawkins has attacked the belief in the ascension of Muhammad…

“The Qur’an briefly refers to the Isra and Miraj, two parts of a night journey Muhammad took during a single night in the year 621. The ‘physical and spiritual journey’ sees the Islamic prophet travel on the steed Buraq to the ‘furthest mosque’ where he leads other prophets in prayer. He then ascends to heaven in the Miraj journey where he speaks to God, who gives instructions to take back to the faithful.

“Dawkins – who was once named the world’s leading thinker by Prospect Magazine – has been equally critical of other religions. He has described Judaism as a ‘tribal cult of a single fiercely unpleasant God, morbidly obsessed with sexual restrictions’. And he once claimed that being raised a Catholic and taught to fear hellfire is ‘worse than child abuse.’…

“Dawkins was born in Kenya but moved to Britain aged eight. He studied at Oundle School, in Northamptonshire, before reading Zoology… at Oxford University, where he is now an emeritus fellow of New College. He became an atheist in his early teens after learning about Darwin’s theory of evolution and has written 13 books on evolution, biology and religion, including several international best-sellers.”

Sadly, especially younger people in the UK believe in Dawkins’ pronouncements, and may view him almost like a Savior of mankind. However, Dawkins is dead wrong on his atheistic evolutionary beliefs. The fact that the crowd follows him is a strong testimony about the ability of “scientists” to brain-wash people. On the other hand, his comments are right on regarding the belief that “Mohammed rode to heaven on a winged horse.”

Horrible! Do Some Islamic Jurists Allow Cannibalism?

The Washington Examiner wrote on December 25:

“The Islamic State’s religious scholars have ruled that taking the organs of non-Muslims is permissible under Islamic law to save the life of a Muslim, because killing apostates to eat their flesh has previously been allowed. The revelation comes in a January 2015 document that was captured by U.S. special forces in Syria in May and obtained by Reuters… the document notes that Islamic jurists have ‘permitted, when necessary, the killing of the infidel combatant or the apostate should one need to consume their flesh for the purpose of saving his own life.’ Islamic scholar Imam al-Nawawi, according to the document, wrote about the ‘legitimacy of killing the infidel fighters and apostates and eating them.’

“The Islamic State scholars argue that ‘If the jurists had permitted, when necessary, the consumption of human flesh as a means [to] counter… death or harm, then it is even more appropriate [to] transplant… organs from the apostate to the Muslim to save the life of the latter. This is especially true because it was ruled that the apostate’s life and organs are not protected. On the contrary, the apostate’s life and organs don’t have to be respected and can be taken with impunity.’

“The document notes that, ‘The permission to transplant the apostate’s organs into a Muslim body facilitates, alleviates and removes the difficulties endured by Muslims [and] is corroborated by a reason strongly rooted in the pure Sharia.’”

Thomas Aquinas Against Islam (and the Catholic Church?)

Breitbart wrote on December 27:

“The 13th-century scholar Thomas Aquinas, regarded as one of the most eminent medieval philosophers and theologians, offered a biting critique of Islam based in large part on the questionable character and methods of its founder, Mohammed… Aquinas—considered by Catholics as a saint and doctor of the Church… wrote between 1258 and 1264 AD [that] the spread of Islam was worked through the promise of sensual pleasures and the violence of the sword…

“Islam’s violent methods of propagation were especially unconvincing to Aquinas, since he found that the use of such force does not prove the truth of one’s claims, and are the means typically used by evil men…

“Aquinas wrote that Mohammed ‘perverts almost all the testimonies of the Old and New Testaments by making them into fabrications of his own, as can be seen by anyone who examines his law.’ According to the noted historian Hilaire Belloc, Islam ‘began as a heresy, not as a new religion… It was a perversion of Christian doctrine… It was, Aquinas wrote, ‘a shrewd decision on his part to forbid his followers to read the Old and New Testaments, lest these books convict him of falsity.’”

It is undisputable that the Koran has changed and re-written numerous passages of the Old Testament. However, with the above-quoted statements, Thomas Aquinas also convicted his church of the same wrong methods and ideas, because many times the Roman Catholic Church resorted to brutal violent means to fight any “detractors” and “heretics,” and it also forbade its followers to read the Bible.

Blind Mystic Predicts Destruction of Europe in 2016

Express wrote on December 30:

“A BLIND mystic who ‘foresaw’ the 9/11 terror attacks on America and the Boxing Day Tsunami also predicted that Europe would be ‘DESTROYED’ in next year. Bulgarian peasant Baba Vanga claims a vision came to her showing Europe desolate and deserted in 2016 following a series of devastating catastrophes which rocked the continent… adding that Europe will ‘cease to exist’ by the end of next year… The bold prophecy has caused a stir, coming at a time when the 28-nation bloc faces being ripped apart by internal divisions. Experts have warned that ‘arrogant’ EU leaders are sleepwalking into catastrophe, with dire economic results and the ongoing migrant crisis sparking a surge in anti-Brussels sentiment…

“Ms Vanga, who died in 1996 aged 85, said in a dire prediction that Europe will ‘cease to exist’ in 2016, with the continent becoming a ‘wasteland almost entirely devoid of any form of life’ after a series of catastrophes. She predicted that the population of the continent will reach almost zero by 2025 with Muslim invaders – believed by some to refer to Islamic State (ISIS) – moving in to conquer the former European countries by 2043.  In a chilling echo of ISIS’ own stated goals, she prophesied that Islamist militants will conquer Rome in 2066 before the US will respond with a ‘climate change’ weapon to try and claim the city back for Christianity.

“She finishes her dire predictions for Europe by stating that the entire continent will come under the rule of a Communist dictator by 2076. Whilst the so-called ‘Nostradamus of the Balkans’ may be outlandish in her statements, other experts have also predicted that 2016 could be the year the EU falls apart.”

All of this is of course utter and complete nonsense. The late blind mystic was indeed very blind. She might have had some inspirational help from demons who know the future in part, but they are lying spirits, willing to deceive gullible people.

 Is Gonorrhea Becoming Untreatable?

BBC News reported on December 27:

“A highly drug-resistant strain of gonorrhoea was detected in the north of England in March. That strain is able to shrug off the antibiotic azithromycin, which is normally used alongside another drug, ceftriaxone. In her letter, the chief medical officer said: ‘Gonorrhoea is at risk of becoming an untreatable disease due to the continuing emergence of antimicrobial resistance… Gonorrhoea has rapidly acquired resistance to new antibiotics…’

“The infection is spread by unprotected vaginal, oral and anal sex… Often the person has no symptoms… but can still easily spread the disease to others. Untreated infection can lead to infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease and can be passed on to a child during pregnancy.

“Gonorrhoea is the second most common sexually transmitted infection in England and cases are soaring…”

The spread of sexually transmitted diseases such as Gonorrhea would be largely avoided if sexual conduct would be restricted to married couples.