California Drought Becoming Critical—Rationing Grows!

Reuters wrote on April 1:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Religious Persecution in Northern Ireland

NewsWithViews.com wrote on March 28:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reuters reported on March 28:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hillary Clinton’s Email Nightmare

The Associated Press reported on March 27:

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

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

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

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

The Washington Times wrote:

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

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

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

Russia Threatens Nuclear Response

The Independent wrote on April 2:

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

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

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

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

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

Hoover.org reported on March 25:

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

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

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

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

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

Ukraine in an Almost Impossible Situation

Business Insider wrote on March 27:

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

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

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

Putin Guilty of Hypocrisy, Saudi Arabia Says

Reuters wrote on March 29:

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

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

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

Arabs Want to Form Joint Military Force

AFP wrote on March 29:

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

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

The New York Times added on March 29:

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

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

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

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

Nuclear Agreement With Iran “Worse Than Feared”

Thomson/Reuters wrote on March 29:

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

AFP added:

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

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

Washington Lacks Sympathy For Its Partners and Friends

Foreign Policy wrote on March 30:

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

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

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

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

April Fool’s Day Deal with Iran?

Reuters wrote on April 1:

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

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

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

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

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

Controversial Deal With Iran Reached

The Associated Press reported on April 2:

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

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

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

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

Iran Deal Complete Capitulation of the West

Breitbart wrote on April 3:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Newsmax reported on March 26:

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

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

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

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

Obama a Modern Haman and Chamberlain?

The Jerusalem Post wrote on March 29:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Netanyahu Has His Work Cut out for Him

JTA wrote on March 20:

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

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

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

US-Israel Tensions Deepen

The New York Times wrote on March 20:

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

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

The Huffington Post wrote on March 21:

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

Israel United Against US Criticism of Netanyahu

The New York Times wrote on March 24:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turmoil in Yemen

The Associated Press reported on March 26:

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

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

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

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

Majority of Germans Trust in the Euro

The Local wrote on March 24:

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

Insane Mass Murder 

Deutsche Welle reported on March 26:

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

The Local added on March 26:

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

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

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

Russia Warns Denmark of Nuclear Attack… Baltic States Worried

The Telegraph wrote on March 21:

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

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

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

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

Doomsday Closer Than We Think?

The Jerusalem Post wrote on March 22:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

America Defenseless Against Nuclear Attack

Forbes wrote on March 20:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Netanyahu Wins

Breitbart wrote on March 17:

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

JTA wrote on March 18:

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

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

The Netanyahu Miracle–CNN Wrong Again

Breitbart wrote on March 17:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

No Palestinian State?

The EUObserver wrote on March 17:

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

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

Iran a Disruptive Player in the Arab World

BBC News reported on March 16:

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

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

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

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

The Washington Free Beacon wrote on March 17:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ISIS and Boko Haram Join Forces

Newsmax wrote on March 13:

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

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

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

The Washington Post wrote on March 17:

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

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

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

Terror Attack on Tourists in Tunisia

Deutsche Welle reported on March 18:

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

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

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

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

Putin Was Willing to Use Nukes Over Crimea

AFP wrote on March 15:

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

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

Putin Does It Again

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 18:

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

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

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

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

Express wrote on March 17:

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

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

Russia’s Northern Fleet on Full Alert

CNN reported on March 17:

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

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

Dangerous Putin and Helpless EU

The EUObserver wrote on March 16:

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

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

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

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

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

NBC News wrote on March 15:

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

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

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

How Pope Francis Sees It

Breitbart wrote on March 13:

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

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

Reuters reported on March 13:

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

The Associated Press added on March 13:

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

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

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

The Catholicism of Jeb Bush

The New York Times wrote on March 17:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Is Obama Trying to Stop Clinton?

Newsmax wrote on March 17:

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

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

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

Danger Alert–Voting to Become Mandatory in the USA?

The Associated Press reported on March 19:

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

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

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

Religious Confusion of Americans and Jews

Times of Israel wrote on March 18:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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