The State of the Disunion

Politico wrote on February 8:

“The State of the Union rarely previews big battles in Congress. Tuesday night’s row between President Joe Biden and GOP lawmakers may prove to be an exception… foreshadowing a long two years to come under divided government…

“The theatrics began midway through Biden’s speech, as he scolded Republicans about their past interest in cutting the nation’s biggest entitlement programs in a bid to set the stakes for the upcoming debt limit battle. As the jeers escalated from the opposition, Biden began battling the GOP in real time — ad-libbing his own prepared remarks to challenge Republicans who were shouting at him from the chamber floor. ‘Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset,’ Biden said as the GOP side of the chamber erupted in boos…Then, veering from his own remarks, Biden attempted to clarify — ‘I don’t think it is a majority of you’ — though he could barely be heard above the GOP outcry on the floor. ‘So folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare, off the books now, right?’ Biden said…

“The tensions only grew from there… ‘Liar!’ [Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene] shouted at first, in response to Biden’s accusation of GOP cuts to Social Security and Medicare… And when Biden called for action on the deadly drug fentanyl — one of the GOP’s biggest priorities — Greene shouted: ‘It’s coming from China.’

“She was hardly alone: Dozens of other Republicans joined in with chants to ‘secure our border’ as Biden spoke of the need for an immigration overhaul. Several other Republicans called out ‘liar,’ and at least one shouted ‘it’s your fault’ as Biden touted efforts to lower fentanyl deaths…”

Sanders’ Official GOP Response

Newsmax wrote on February 7:

“Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders delivered the Republican response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, saying she is skeptical of pretty much the whole thing… [while] ‘not believing much of anything I heard tonight from President Biden’…

“‘From out-of-control inflation and violent crime to the dangerous border crisis and threat from China,’ Sanders said, ‘Biden and the Democrats have failed you… ‘I’m the first woman to lead my state. He’s the first man to surrender his presidency to a woke mob that can’t even tell you what a woman is…

“‘In the radical left’s America, Washington taxes you and lights your hard-earned money on fire, but you get crushed with high gas prices, empty grocery shelves, and our children are taught to hate one another on account of their race, but not to love one another or our great country,’ she said… ‘Every day, we are told that we must partake in their rituals, salute their flags, and worship their false idols … all while big government colludes with Big Tech to strip away the most American thing there is — your freedom of speech,’ she added…

“‘President Biden’s weakness puts our nation and the world at risk,’ she said. ‘And the President’s refusal to stand up to China, our most formidable adversary, is dangerous and unacceptable… He is unfit to serve as commander in chief.’”

Trump Responds

 Breitbart wrote on February 7:

“Former President Donald Trump responded to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address Tuesday night… ‘Here’s the real State of the Union: Over the past two years under Biden, millions and millions of illegal aliens from 160 different countries have stormed across our southern border,’ said Trump… Another border issue Trump highlighted in his response to Biden Tuesday is the fentanyl epidemic… ‘Drug cartels are now raking in billions of dollars from smuggling poison to kill our people and to kill our children,’ said Trump. Production of fentanyl typically starts in China, where precursor chemicals are manufactured, and then Mexican cartels synthesize the drugs before they are trafficked across the border…

“Trump then turned his attention to crime, asserting that ‘[s]avage killers, rapists, and violent criminals are being released from jail to continue their crime wave.’ ‘Biden and the radical Democrats have wasted trillions of dollars and caused the worst inflation in half a century,’ Trump continued. ‘Real wages are down 21 months in a row, gas prices have soared and are now going much higher than even before, and the typical American family is paying $2,200 in increased energy and food costs each year,’ he added…

“[Trump] then called out Biden’s ‘weaponized Justice Department’ for ‘persecuting his political opponents,’ and he asserted the ‘administration is waging war on free speech... They’re trying to indoctrinate and mutilate our children…

“‘[Biden is] leading us to the brink of World War III, and on top of all of that, he’s the most corrupt President in American history, and it’s not even close.’”

 “Lie After Lie”

 The New York Post Editorial Board wrote on February 7:

“[Biden] offered lie after lie in a shameless bid to fool the electorate ahead of his 2024 run for re-election…

“He blended brags about his supposed achievements (inflation-fueling blowout spending sprees), promos for various dead-on-arrival bits of legislation (even heavily Democratic Congresses have been unable to pass ‘comprehensive immigration reform’), blatantly insincere calls for bipartisanship, cynical and false attacks on his opponents (the chamber was in an uproar at his fake claim that Republicans want to slash Social Security and Medicare), bogus stats (billionaires pay roughly 24% income tax, not 8%), some fine tough talk on the Ukraine war and utter laughers (‘as we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And we did’ — by shooting down the balloon at the last possible moment?)

“…. he had literally no overall theme, as he has no overall vision beyond his self-serving distortions and promises of more giveaways.”

Regarding the Chinese spy balloon fiasco, note the following articles.

Chinese “Spy Balloons” Over USA and Latin America

The Associated Press wrote on February 3:

“A huge, high-altitude Chinese balloon sailed across the U.S. on Friday, drawing severe Pentagon accusations of spying on sensitive military sites despite China’s firm denials. Secretary of State Antony Blinken abruptly canceled a high-stakes Beijing trip aimed at easing U.S.-China tensions… It was spotted earlier over Montana, which is home to one of America’s three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base, defense officials said.

“Later Friday, the Pentagon acknowledged reports of a second balloon flying over Latin America… The U.S. actually had been tracking the initial balloon since at least Tuesday… Biden was initially inclined to order the surveillance balloon to be blown out of the sky, and a senior defense official said the U.S. had prepared fighter jets, including F-22s, to shoot it down if ordered… Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, strongly advised Biden against shooting down the balloon, warning that its size — as big as three school buses — and considerable weight could create a debris field large enough to endanger Americans on the ground…

“Blinken’s trip cancellation came despite China’s claim that the balloon was merely a weather research ‘airship’ that had blown off course. The Pentagon rejected that out of hand — as well as China’s contention that the balloon was not being used for surveillance and had only limited navigational ability…

“The development dealt a new blow to already strained U.S.-Chinese relations that have been in a downward spiral for years over numerous issues…”

Breitbart wrote on February 3:

“Former President Donald Trump warned on Friday that China has ‘many thousands of spies working in the United States’ in various industries amid a revelation that a Chinese spy balloon is flying over the continental United States.

“‘It’s rarely even mentioned that China has many thousands of spies working in the United States in business, finance, academia, technology, media and likely, even government, very sadly,’ Trump declared.”

Biden Secretive in Hiding the News

The New York Post wrote on February 4:

“President Biden and his administration knew for nearly a week that a Chinese spy balloon was hovering in U.S. airspace — but kept the incursion secret, fearing it would derail Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing…

“Team Biden became aware of the balloon on Jan. 28… when it was spotted over Alaska. The US military tracked it as it flew into Canadian airspace, then re-entered American skies on Tuesday. The next day, Biden received a detailed briefing on the balloon and its course… But the president also chose to conceal the crisis from the American public…

“The administration finally came clean to the public Thursday, after the Billings Gazette, a local Montana paper, published photos of the floating orb and the story jumped into the national media…

“The uproar forced Blinken to postpone his trip indefinitely…

“Former president Donald Trump, ex-veep Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley have all demanded that the balloon be shot down, accusing Biden of weakness against Beijing.”

Many other Republicans made the same demand.

The Balloon Fiasco

Fox News wrote on February 4:

“Several governors — including Missouri GOP Gov. Mike Parson and Montana GOP Gov. Greg Gianforte — have expressed frustration over the Biden administrations’ lack of communication as the balloon traversed American airspace.

“‘We have received zero communication from the Biden Administration regarding reports of the suspected Chinese spy balloon now flying over Missouri,’ Parson wrote in a tweet on Friday. ‘We have heard no explanation or plan to remove it. Why has this been allowed to reach our heartland? Why has it not been eliminated?’

“Similarly, Gianforte, during a Saturday morning appearance on ‘Fox and Friends Weekend,’ blasted the Biden administration’s communication about the balloon. ‘We’re informed through our national guard,’ Gianforte said. ‘We knew nothing about this until this slow moving balloon was hundreds of miles into the state. It had already flown over military installations and it was over our most populous city in the state.’”

Balloon Shut Down

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 5:

“The US on Saturday downed a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon… The balloon was shot down over relatively shallow water. Officials said a recovery operation is now underway to retrieve the debris and key elements of the purported Chinese surveillance equipment over the coming days…

“China expressed ‘strong dissatisfaction’ with the US use of force to strike its ‘unmanned civilian’ airship, calling it a ‘serious violation of international practice.’ In a statement by the Foreign Ministry on Sunday, Beijing threatened repercussions over the incident… The Chinese Defense Ministry said it ‘reserves the right to use necessary means to deal with similar situations,’ though it was unclear exactly what type of situation it meant.”

According to some reports, there is a third Chinese spy balloon flying in the skies over the Atlantic Ocean in addition to the one flying over Latin America.

 The Sun wrote on February 5:

“The balloon is the first foreign aircraft shot down over American air space since World War II. The last instance was in 1942, when a Japanese fighter jet was shot down as it tried to attack US Navy ships in Alaska, in an instance known as Akutan Zero.

“It’s also the first instance of a F-22 jet performing an ‘air to air kill’, after firing the missile that took down the surveillance balloon…

“A department of defense official claimed that upwards of 3 Chinese spy balloons flew over the continental United States during Trump’s presidency, sparking fierce debate online… Bloomberg said: ‘One top national security official from the administration of former President Donald Trump said none of the Chinese spy balloons were near sensitive sites or had payloads as large as this one appears to carry.’”

Trump denied the claim that Chinese spy balloons flew over the United States under his Presidency, but the Pentagon subsequently claimed that this was not discovered or revealed to Trump until after his departure.

Strong Job Figures… Cause for Optimism…

Breitbart wrote on February 3:

“The incredibly strong January jobs figures all but rule out a recession in the first half of this year. They even may be strong enough to indicate that the economy will remain in expansion throughout the year…

“Some historical context highlights just how extremely robust job creation has been. Apart from the rapid job gain in the wake of the pandemic lockdowns, that three month average is the highest since 1994…

“You have to go all the way back to 1969 before you’ll find an unemployment rate that low. And to get below that number, you have to send your time machine back to 1951, when Harry Truman was president and GDP was growing at an eight percent real rate… The ultra-low level of unemployment will eventually result in wage gains…”

Or, Is Optimism Misplaced?

npr wrote on February 4:

“The good times are back on Wall Street. Stocks have surged since the start of the year. The Nasdaq is up nearly 15% this year after posting its best January since 2001. And it’s not just stocks: bonds have risen and even bitcoin has made a roaring comeback, though all markets fell a tad on Friday.

“This is all after a miserable 2022, when markets were hit hard by fears about surging inflation and about how the Federal Reserve was fighting it, with the biggest increases in the country’s interest rates since the early 1980s.

“Today, hope has replaced that fear. Inflation has eased substantially…

“And many on Wall Street no longer dread the worst about the economy, turning from their predictions of a big recession to hope that any downturn will be mild, or even that a recession may not happen at all.

“… the labor market is very strong. Data on Friday showed U.S. employers added a whopping 517,000 jobs, much stronger than most forecasts, while the unemployment rate dropped to a 53-year low…

“There is one big downer in the market, however: the Fed [which] has no intention of cutting interest rates any time soon… The Fed is the most powerful economic player in the world, with the ability to move markets from New York to Hong Kong with a single word. And so far, the Fed has said, clearly, that the fight against inflation will go on…

“Then, beyond the Fed, there’s the risk that plenty can still go wrong for the economy… there’s plenty of other data that raises the prospect that the economy could end up hitting a recession after all.

“The housing market, for example, has taken a major hit since the Fed started raising rates. And retail sales are showing signs of declining, a big concern in an economy so reliant on consumer spending…

“In 2001, the Nasdaq similarly rallied in January, ending the month up 12%. It did not end well. The economy skidded into a recession, and the Nasdaq slumped a whopping 30% over the next 11 months, with losses magnified by the Sept. 11 attacks. As it turns out, all that optimism in January 2001, proved to have been misplaced.”

President Biden and America’s Economy

The New York Post wrote on February 5:

“… no president in modern times even comes close to Biden in terms of fiscal recklessness. In his first two years, the national debt has risen by more than $4.2 trillion. That’s more than in any two-year period in American history…

“The average inflation rate during the Trump presidency was 2%, and in January 2021, the month Biden entered office, inflation was 1.4%. Eighteen months later, in summer 2022, inflation rose above 9% — the highest in 40 years. It ended the year at 6.5%…

“When President Donald Trump left office, the gas price was $2.59 a gallon nationally. In June 2022, it was nearly double, a modern-day high of $5.004 a gallon. Today gas is $3.48 a gallon — roughly $1 a gallon higher than when Biden entered office…

“A 2022 Committee to Unleash Prosperity study by the University of Chicago’s Casey Mulligan found that oil production would be 2 million to 3 million barrels a day higher if Biden had simply followed the Trump energy plan. America would have produced nearly $200 billion more oil last year if not for Biden’s war on fossil fuels… Trump issued permits for drilling on 100 million acres of federal land. Biden has issued fewer drilling permits than any president since World War II’s end.”

California’s Vaccine Mandate Policy

Breitbart wrote on February 7:

“The State of California has scrapped a plan to require the coronavirus vaccine for children in grades K through 12, as Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) allows a three-year-old ‘state of emergency’ to expire at the end of February…

“The policy would have applied to all of California’s 6.7 million public and private students. But enforcing the requirement would have posed a challenge, given the vaccine’s waning immunity.

“President Joe Biden informed Congress last week that he will be ending the state of emergency and the public health emergency on the coronavirus pandemic on May 11.”

Sadly, vaccine mandates will still remain in force and effect in certain areas, even after Biden’s proposed announcement of ending the “state of emergency,” which should have been made a long time ago (if a declaration of “state of emergency” had to be made at all). Interestingly, the timing of Biden’s planned announcement coincides with insurance companies’ policies of coverage.

Blinken Meets With Netanyahu and Abbas

Israel 365 News wrote on February 2:

On Monday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in Israel for a three-day visit… Blinken gave a joint speech with Netanyahu…

“Blinken stated the importance of maintaining the ‘historic status quo at Jerusalem’s holy places, including the Temple Mount Haram al-Sharif,’ choosing to refer to Judaism’s holiest site also by an Arabic term… In addition to Blinken’s stated dedication to the status quo, his State Department was critical of a visit to the site last month by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, saying it had ‘the potential to exacerbate tensions and to provoke violence.’

“The White House claimed the visit ‘jeopardized the status quo’ though it was unclear in what way it did so. The status quo violates Israeli law by discriminating against Jews and Christians, maintaining a Muslim exclusivity on religious freedom…

“Blinken met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Tuesday… He also cited the US commitment to the ‘two-state solution’ which would create a Palestinian state inside Israel with its capital in Jerusalem. He cited as the greatest obstacles to this vision were things like ‘settlement expansion, the legalization of outposts, demolitions and evictions, disruptions to the historic status quo of the holy sites, and of course incitement and acquiescence to violence.’”

Israel At Brink of Civil War?

Israel Today wrote on February 7:

“An opposition lawmaker on Tuesday used the Knesset podium to urge citizens of the nation to civil unrest against what he called the ‘dictatorship’ of the new Netanyahu government. MK Ofer Kasif (Hadash) was quickly removed by Knesset ushers, but his act of public incitement further fueled fears that Israel is inching closer to civil war.  ‘In light of the current emergency situation, I call for civil unrest…’ Kasif said before being interrupted by Deputy Speaker Nissim Vettori (Likud), who called on Knesset ushers to forcibly remove Kasif from the plenum.

“The few lawmakers present at the time then erupted in a shouting match, with Kasif and fellow opposition MKs labeling the coalition members as ‘fascists.’ Kasif is the only Jewish member of an Arab political party, so coalition members from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, many of whom are fluent in Arabic, responded with Arabic slurs… Kasif later complained that his democratic rights had been violated, and that he and the opposition would ‘not rest’ until they brought down the ‘dictatorship’ currently governing Israel.

“Israel was rocked last week when prominent figures in the anti-government movement began openly calling for armed violence, and some even encouraged the assassination of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This incitement followed weeks of mass demonstrations against the government, which were themselves sparked by calls for civil disobedience from opposition leaders Yair Lapid and Beny Gantz…

“All it takes is for one deranged individual to take up the call to assassinate Netanyahu. If… that were to happen, there is no telling how the other side might respond. But given the hostility that has grown between the two sides in recent decades, and the fact that a plurality of voters are ardent supporters of Netanyahu himself (some even view him as ‘king’), the end result would be catastrophic for the Jewish state.”

 Russia, China and Ukraine

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 7:

“China’s increasingly closer relationship with Russia has raised doubts in Ukraine over its strategic partnership with Beijing, with Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk calling China’s position ‘less and less acceptable’…

“Ukraine has maintained a strategic partnership with China since 2011, which has allowed trade and defense ties to flourish. China has been a major importer of Ukrainian grains and corns. Ukraine is also a major arms supplier to China…

“Although Beijing has not explicitly supported Russia’s position on the war, it has worked on building stronger ties with Moscow as the EU and the United States work on isolating Russia. Following talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last week, China’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said Beijing wants to advance bilateral relations with Russia in 2023…”

Ultimately, China, Russia and Ukraine will all be united.

Relations Between Ukraine and Germany “Difficult”

Die Welt wrote on February 9:

“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj sees the relationship with Germany in a ‘difficult phase’ because of the debate about the supply of main battle tanks. ‘I have to force him to help Ukraine and constantly convince him that this help is not for us, but for the Europeans,’ Zelensky said of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) in an interview with ‘Spiegel’ and the French newspaper ‘ Le Figaro’ on Thursday… Ukraine’s relationship with Germany is ‘in waves, it’s ups and downs,’ he said.

“Zelenskyj also criticized European heads of state and government, whom he had asked for weapons and sanctions ‘daily’. ‘If everyone knew that Putin was going to invade our country, why didn’t they impose sanctions? It’s absolutely ridiculous when you all stand up for us publicly and still like to dodge sanctions or withhold guns,’ he said.

“Regarding the support of allies in the first days of the Russian attack on his country, Selensky said: ‘I’m not saying that it went ideally.’ He will give an honest answer to the question of whether he is satisfied when the war is over.”

Huge Earthquakes in Turkey

The Daily Mail wrote on February 6:

“Turkey was hit by two massive earthquakes less than ten hours apart on Monday, killing more than [19,000 people, as reported on February 9] and leaving scores trapped under collapsed buildings – and plunging the region into an unfolding humanitarian crisis. [Many more deaths are expected.]

“The initial 7.8-magnitude night-time tremor, followed hours later by a slightly smaller one, wiped out entire sections of major Turkish cities in a region filled with millions of people who have fled the civil war in Syria and other conflicts…

ABC News reported on February 6:

“Monday’s [first] quake was as powerful as the strongest ever recorded in Turkey… A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck northeastern Turkey in 1939, killing approximately 30,000 people. Monday’s quake in southeastern Turkey had the same magnitude, according to the United States Geological Survey. Earthquakes frequently occur in Turkey, which is situated on top of major fault lines. Some 18,000 people were killed in powerful earthquakes that hit northwestern Turkey in 1999.”

Much more powerful earthquakes are prophesied to occur in these end times. It was pointed out that a huge earthquake in California is a certainty, which would be at least as strong as the ones in Turkey, but probably much stronger.

British Army Would Last Just One Afternoon

Daily Star wrote on February 3:

“General Sir Richard Barrons, former Joint Forces chief, says years of government neglect have left Britain’s military ill-equipped for a major conflict…

“His words echo a warning from the Royal United Services Institute in December that said Britain’s ammunition stockpiles were ‘woefully deficient’ and that in any serious armed conflict the Army would run out of ammunition in a week…

“Sir Richard adds, ‘we have a war in Europe, and our Armed forces are smaller and less ready to fight than at any time in living memory. The Army is on track to slip below 76,000 troops, about half the size of our Cold War force’.

“In the Commons earlier week, Tobias Ellwood, the chairman of the Defence Select Committee, said that the war in Ukraine had ‘exposed serious shortfalls in the war fighting capability of the British army.’”

The Sun added on February 2:

“Unless we restore our defences, all our hopes for all our lives will rely on our friends protecting us and our enemies leaving us alone. Unless our ministers take bold steps now, our security is lost.”

It is indeed. Even Britain’s friends will turn out to be their enemies.

Norway Strengthens Its Armed Forces Through the Purchase of German Tanks

EDR (European Defence Review) On Line wrote on February 3:

“The government has decided to acquire 54 tanks of the Leopard 2 type from German Krauss-Maffei Wegmann. An option has been entered for the purchase of a further 18 vehicles. The first new tanks are expected to be delivered in 2026…

“By purchasing German tanks, we ensure that Norway has the same type of tanks as our Nordic neighbors and close allies. We are also forging closer security policy ties with Germany, says Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre…

“Germany is one of our main cooperation countries in the area of defence and security policy. A procurement and industrial cooperation with Germany builds on and reinforces an already established strategic materiel and industrial cooperation, says the Minister of Defence.

“The government primarily wants to buy 54 tanks, but is open to being able to acquire a further 18 tanks…”

“German Social Democrats Grasp at World Power”

On February 1, 2023, the World Socialist Website (WSWS) wrote the following surprising article about their comrades or “Genossen”, the Germany’s Social Democrat Party (SPD):

“The Social Democratic Party (SPD)-led German government is aggressively stepping up its war policy. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s announcement of the delivery of Leopard-2 battle tanks to Ukraine last week has been followed by calls for the delivery of aircraft. While Scholz still rejects this, at least publicly, SPD Co-Chairwoman Saskia Esken, interviewed on last Sunday’s ‘Report from Berlin’ program, did not rule out sending fighter jets to Kiev…

“It is becoming increasingly clear that the ruling class regards the NATO war against Russia as an opportunity to implement its long-cherished plans to become a world power and once again make Germany the leading military force, 90 years after Hitler seized power…

“A strategy paper recently presented by the SPD’s ‘Commission on International Politics’ titled ‘Social Democratic Responses to a World in Transition’… emphasizes that the 100-billion-euro Bundeswehr special fund serves not only to arm the German army, but also to militarize Europe…

“More than a century after the SPD’s historic betrayal on August 4, 1914, when it agreed to the Kaiser’s war credits and supported World War I, social democracy is the leading party of German imperialism. The Left Party and the Greens support it in this, forming coalitions with the SPD at the federal and state level…”

Will Germany Again Become a Mighty Military Power?

The New York Times wrote on February 24:

“The German chancellor Olaf Scholz told Parliament that that [Russian] attack [on Ukraine] marked a Zeitenwende, a historic ‘turning point’ for Europe and Germany. There could be no doubt that Putin wanted to build a Russian empire, Scholz said. Germans must therefore ask, ‘What capabilities do we need in order to counter this threat?’ He announced, among other measures, a 100-billion-euro fund to bolster the German military. The plan, if implemented, would represent the largest absolute jump in German military spending since World War II.

“Parliamentarians gave Scholz a standing ovation. That level of support would have been almost unthinkable before the invasion. In Germany, skepticism of the merits of military strength has enabled a long post-Cold War process of disarmament. As a result, Germany is a historic anomaly in the heart of Europe — an economic leviathan but a military minnow. Now German leaders are vowing to transform the country into a military power capable of taking responsibility for Europe’s security. The question is whether they — and a hesitant German society — can follow through on this promise…

“It was the Russian threat that led to the resurrection of the German military during the Cold War; it’s once again the Russian threat that may lead to its revitalization…

“Germany has long occupied an exceptionally comfortable place in the world. It has an export-dependent economy, selling its cars and machines far and wide — and many tanks and submarines, as one of the world’s largest arms exporters. But when it comes to countering perceived security threats — whether the Islamic State or Putin — it has allowed allies to take the lead. German leaders sent troops to Afghanistan but largely avoided referring to it as a ‘war,’ even as German soldiers engaged in ground combat there for the first time since World War II.

“Germany’s aversion to military power has been sustained by one glaring fact: Its defense is guaranteed by the world’s pre-eminent superpower, the United States, within the framework of NATO. President Donald Trump, who tended to reduce foreign policy to questions of who was ripping off whom, was particularly obsessed with what he saw as German defense freeloading, calling Germany ‘delinquent’ on military spending. But it wasn’t just Trump. Every recent U.S. administration tried, and mostly failed, to get the Germans and other European allies to strengthen their militaries and meet the NATO defense-spending target of 2 percent of gross domestic product, a goal Germany has long undershot…

“As part of his Zeitenwende speech, Scholz vowed to meet the NATO defense-spending target ‘from now on,’ though his government has since been noncommittal about when that might happen… Should German leaders deliver on their promises, Germany would become the third- or fourth-biggest military spender in the world. Before the war, such an increase would have been highly unpopular. But in a poll conducted for German public television soon after the invasion, 69 percent of Germans supported it.”

Compulsory Military Service in Germany?

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 3:

“A familiar discussion has begun in Germany… Should compulsory military service be reintroduced? Some countries, for example Latvia, have recently reintroduced it, and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius fueled the debate when he said earlier this week: ‘It was a mistake to suspend compulsory military service.’… until 2011 German men between the ages of 18 and 27 were obligated to either serve in the nation’s military… or perform an alternative service for a limited period of time in civilian areas such as emergency management or medical care…

“Over the past two decades, the Bundeswehr has shrunk from more than 317,000 soldiers to just over 183,000…

“In his interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung national newspaper, the German defense minister admitted compulsory military service would not help Germany at all in the next two or three years. But Pistorius… believes there must be an open discussion again about the benefits of mandatory military service.

“A spokeswoman for the German Defense Ministry said in response to a DW inquiry: ‘Currently the Defense Ministry has no plans to reintroduce conscription… different tasks… require well-trained and specialized personnel… we have opened our armed forces to women for the past 20 years… The former format of compulsory military service would be impossible to implement in the current structures and would be an additional burden. Recruitment, training, and accommodation of conscripts alone would result in a considerable need for investment…’

“For defense commissioner Eva Högl, the debate about compulsory military service is, therefore, a ‘theoretical debate,’ and Finance Minister Christian Lindner… has brushed it aside as a ‘discussion about ghosts.’

“… the Bundeswehr still has a massive diversity problem in 2023. Only one in eight soldiers is female…”

Not too long ago, Eva Högl advocated compulsory military service. The debate is ongoing. Ultimately, we can expect that compulsory military service will be instituted in Germany.

Spahn’s Corona Botch

Bild Online wrote on February 8:

“During the pandemic, the government bought as many masks as it could… A total of 5.8 billion masks are said to have been shipped to the federal government. In addition, the federal government is said to have raised a further 320 million euros for external consultants, lawyers, transport, storage and quality control for the years 2020 and 2021.

“According to BILD information, huge quantities of FFP2 and surgical masks did not even leave their country of manufacture and are now to be destroyed! And: Apparently, the Federal Ministry of Health itself does not know exactly how many tons are still in a warehouse in the city of Jiaxing near Shanghai… The Ministry of Health estimates the cost of destruction at around 375,000 euros. A snap against the previous costs of storage. They amount to 11 million euros!

“According to the latest research by ‘Welt’, several federal states have also destroyed almost 20 million masks in Germany. So now the Federal Ministry of Health wants to destroy several hundred million masks that never made it to Germany.”

More Botches from Spahn – the “Social Compulsory Year”

Merkur wrote on February 3:

“Again and again there are discussions about a compulsory social year for young people. The idea behind it: wouldn’t it be worth considering involving female citizens in a kind of community service? Jens Spahn, CDU politician, advocates such a construct. ‘The vast majority of the younger generation wants to get involved and would like more community spirit and cohesion. An attractively paid company year for the 21st century contributes to this,’ said Jens Spahn of the Frankfurter Rundschau… Otherwise, voluntary work would quickly become arbitrary. ‘With a mandatory year of society, the conditions are the same for everyone. Whether in the hospital, in the army or elsewhere, everyone should be able to decide for themselves,’ says Spahn. This also makes a discussion about renewed compulsory military service unnecessary…

“A compulsory social year is highly controversial. Young people criticize the fact that they are not even being listened to and that the idea is instead being discussed over their heads… So far there has been no majority in the traffic light government. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has concerns that forced service could violate the Basic Law…”

In Germany everything has to be done by force…

Twitter Under Threat

Bloomberg wrote on February 6:

“In the turbulent months since Elon Musk bought Twitter, the threat of greater scrutiny has been looming, but the fear from some EU officials was that Twitter may not actually have enough users to fall under the enhanced set of rules imposed on social media companies by the bloc’s Digital Services Act. Now, it appears it does.

“Twitter and the Commission are gearing up for the company to be designated a ‘very large online platform,’ according to people familiar with the matter. That means the company will have to report on how it’s blocking harmful posts and could even be forced to change its algorithms. For Musk, it means his stripped-down company will be subject to a much more intrusive regulatory system and could face significant penalties if it doesn’t comply.”

Europe’s way to dictatorship and suppression of free speech is ongoing.

Eating Insects…

IFN (International Family News) wrote on February 1:

“[The] European Union of January 4, 2023… [implemented] regulation EU 2023/5… authorized the use of Acheta Domesticus (house cricket) powder on the European market, as a new ingredient in foodstuffs for mass consumption…

“[An] important omission is that the shell of these insects contains chitin. Although chitin is used as a cosmetic without any problem, this polymer is a potent allergy generator when ingested by humans. Mammals, with rare exceptions such as bats, do not have enzymes capable of digesting chitin. Our intestine does not assimilate it.

“Nor have they said anything about these insects containing metamorphic steroids. In particular, ecdysterone which is an anabolic used by cheating bodybuilders to artificially build muscle. The consumption of these steroids is prohibited because of their harmful effects on health.”

The Pope and Homosexuality

The Associated Press wrote on February 5:

“Pope Francis was backed by the ceremonial head of the Anglican Communion and top Presbyterian minister in calling for gays to be welcomed by their churches as he again decried laws that criminalize homosexuality as unjust. The three Christian leaders spoke on LGBTQ rights during an unprecedented joint airborne news conference Sunday while returning home from South Sudan…

“South Sudan is one of 67 countries that criminalizes homosexuality, 11 of them with the death penalty… During the news conference on the way back to Rome, Francis specifically didn’t repeat that ‘being homosexual is not a crime,’ perhaps to not antagonize his South Sudanese hosts, who had originally objected to his comments to the AP.  ‘If he (Pope Francis) is coming here and he tells us that marriage of the same sex, homosexuality, is legal, we will say no,’ Michael Makuei Lueth, South Sudan’s information minister, said after the pope’s AP interview and before his visit.

“On Sunday, Francis referred to his Jan. 24 comments to the AP and repeated that such laws are ‘unjust.’ He also repeated previous comments that parents should never throw their gay children out of the house. ‘To condemn someone like this is a sin,’ he said. ‘Criminalizing people with homosexual tendencies is an injustice.’”

God does clearly condemn the practice of homosexuality as sinful. Does God commit a sin in the eyes of the pope?

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

“We Are at War With Russia!”

Bild Online wrote on January 26:

“German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (42) said on Tuesday at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg in English: ‘We are fighting a war against Russia and not against each other.’

 “A short video excerpt from Baerbock’s speech went viral on the Internet and caused astonishment and criticism.

“Because: Baerbock fundamentally contradicts Chancellor Olaf Scholz (64, SPD), who repeatedly emphasizes that Germany should NOT become a war party. However, Baerbock explained exactly the opposite: that Germany was already at war with Russia.

 “BILD asked the Foreign Office why the Foreign Minister said the sentence – and whether she still stands by her statement. The answer: one roll backwards!

“The most important part of the answer: ‘International law is clear: supporting Ukraine in exercising its individual right of self-defense against Russia’s illegal war of aggression, as enshrined in the UN Charter, does not make Germany a party to the conflict.’

“This means: Baerbock takes back her sentence that Germany is fighting a war against Russia. Supporting Ukraine does not make Germany a party to the war.

Not for now, but Baerbock might have spilled the beans. We should also note that her office might have tried to explain away Baerbock’s comments, but Baerbock herself did not.

Baerbock Really Believes It

Focus wrote on January 29:

“[Did] Baerbock… deliberately say the controversial sentence – or was it possibly just a thoughtless statement?

“Russia expert [Professor Gerhard] Mangott believes in the former scenario. ‘Ms. Baerbock thinks Germany is at war with Russia… the West is actually [politically] in a war-like state…’, says Mangott…

“Mangott assumes that some Western countries will actually supply fighter jets to Ukraine…”

USA and Europe at War With Russia

Newsmax wrote on January 28:

“Russian President Vladimir Putin has moved beyond what he initially called a ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine and Russia is now engaged in ‘a war against NATO and the West,’ European Union defense chief Stefano Sannino said while commenting on Canada becoming the 12th country to commit to sending tanks to Ukraine… and Poland said it would give an additional 60 on top of the 14 it has already committed to the war effort.

“Spain and Norway are expected to announce how many Leopard 2s they will send to Ukraine in the coming days. Belgium announced a new package of military aid, including cash, missiles, machine guns, and armored vehicles but said it doesn’t have major battle tanks to match NATO allies’ offers. Ukraine is also calling for fighter jets such as the U.S. F-16, but fulfilling the request seems unlikely…

“Russia has accused President Joe Biden of ‘pumping weapons’ into Ukraine rather than working toward a cease-fire. The promised delivery of tanks to Ukraine is evidence of the ‘direct involvement’ of the United States and Europe in the war…

“Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, meanwhile, called on the West to pursue peace talks rather than arming Ukraine. ‘It started with the Germans saying they were willing to send helmets but they would not send lethal aid, since that represented participation in the conflict,’ Orban said. He added that as long as he is prime minister, it is ‘out of the question’ that Hungary will get more involved in the Ukraine war. ‘But the others have already been swept away,’ he said. ‘If you send weapons, no matter what you say, you are in the war.’”

Putin Feels Threatened by Germany

Reuters wrote on February 2:

“President Vladimir Putin evoked the spirit of the Soviet army that defeated Nazi German forces at Stalingrad 80 years ago to declare on Thursday that Russia would defeat a Ukraine supposedly in the grip of a new incarnation of Nazism. In a fiery speech in Volgograd, known as Stalingrad until 1961, Putin lambasted Germany for helping to arm Ukraine and said, not for the first time, that he was ready to draw on Russia’s entire arsenal, which includes nuclear weapons…

“‘Again and again we have to repel the aggression of the collective West. It’s incredible but it’s a fact: we are again being threatened with German Leopard tanks with crosses on them… Those who draw European countries, including Germany, into a new war with Russia, and … expect to win a victory over Russia on the battlefield, apparently don’t understand that a modern war with Russia will be quite different for them’…

“Despite Stalin’s record of presiding over a famine that killed millions and political repression that killed hundreds of thousands, Russian politicians and school textbooks have in recent years stressed his role as a successful wartime leader who turned the Soviet Union into a superpower.”

Germany’s Largest Gas Storage Facility Can’t Store Gas—For the Moment

Oil Price wrote on February 1:

“Germany’s natural gas storage facility in Rehden, Lower Saxony—Germany’s largest—cannot store any gas, a Lower Saxony supervisory authority said on Wednesday, according to Spiegel.

“The… storage facility accounts for one-fifth of the total storage capacity available in Germany and is also one of the largest in Western Europe, with a working capacity of around 4 billion cubic meters on an underground area of around eight square kilometers, according to the facility’s website.

“The natural gas storage facility experienced deflagration on a torch due to unknown causes… Storage has been stopped as a precaution, and the storage facility cannot be refilled for days—with no specific date given as to when storage can resume. The State Office for Mining, Energy and Geology said there was no evidence of external influence.

“A spokesperson told media that the deflagration occurred during a storage phase and not a delivery phase, adding that no one would be out of gas. Just a couple of weeks ago, German gas storage operators said that they did not foresee any gas supply problems next winter based on declining consumption this winter—and they said there was no chance of shortage this winter, even with extremely low temperatures and even accounting for risk factors.

“Storage facilities in Germany are nearly 90% full, well above their legal requirements to hold 40%, achieved in part by declining usage due to mild winter weather and deliberate usage curbs.

“The Rehden gas storage facility was abandoned last April by Russia’s Gazprom as its relations with Europe soured. Germany began filling the storage facility a month later, in May.”

Trump Could End Ukraine War in 24 Hours?

MSN reported on January 27:

“Former US President Donald Trump said Friday he could end the war in Ukraine within ‘24 hours’ if he remains President of the United States. ‘If I were President, there would never have been a conflict between Russia and Ukraine. But even if it were, I could agree to end it within 24 hours,’ he said in a message posted to his own social network, Truth Social.

“For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he agreed with Trump’s words, noting that if he were president, ‘it is possible that the crisis in Ukraine would be resolved quickly through his influence on Kyiv. In theory, Trump is not far from the truth. The American president could, if he wanted to, really end the conflict, and quickly, using, let’s say, his skills or simply giving instructions to Kyiv,’ he said at a press conference, Interfax reports.”

This Time It’s Different

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on January 27:

“Russia neither collapsed internally nor capitulated to the collective West’s demands for regime change in Moscow… As a result, Washington’s proxy war against Russia is failing… Alexei Arestovich, President Zelensky’s recently fired advisor,… expressed his own doubts that Ukraine can win its war with Russia and he now questions whether Ukraine will even survive the war…

“In a setting where Russian artillery systems can fire nearly 60,000 rounds of all types—rockets, missiles, drones, and hard-shell ammunition—a day, Ukrainian forces are hard-pressed to answer these Russian salvos with 6,000 rounds daily…

“Washington’s frustration with the collective West’s failure to stem the tide of Ukrainian defeat is growing. In fact, the frustration is rapidly giving way to desperation…  NATO’s members were never strongly united behind Washington’s crusade to fatally weaken Russia…

“Retired German Air Force General Harald Kujat, former chairman of the NATO Military Committee, severely criticized Berlin for allowing Washington to railroad Germany into conflict with Russia… Though actively suppressed by the German government and media, his comments are resonating strongly with the German electorate.

“The blunt fact is that in its efforts to secure victory in its proxy war with Russia, Washington ignores historical reality. From the 13th century onward, Ukraine was a region dominated by larger, more powerful national powers, whether Lithuanian, Polish, Swedish, Austrian, or Russian…  So where is Washington headed with its proxy war against Russia? The question deserves an answer.”

Austria to “Upgrade” Its Armed Forces

The National News wrote on January 27:

“Neutral Austria has no choice but to upgrade its armed forces after Russia’s assault on Ukraine brought conventional warfare back to Europe, Defence Minister Klaudia Tanner said on Friday. A new military risk assessment found a missile attack on Austria could not be ruled out.

“Austria is not part of Nato and has not sent weapons to Ukraine, although it has as an EU member made humanitarian donations and supported sanctions imposed on Russia. But the planned €2.5 billion ($2.72bn) increase in defence spending will make Austria one of many European countries rearming in response to the war in Ukraine…

“The 266-page risk assessment said Austria currently had no defences against many types of rockets and cruise missiles. It said Austria should consider taking part in a European air defence initiative being spearheaded by Germany because missile warfare was a possibility…

“Unlike in Sweden and Finland, there has been no significant movement towards joining Nato in Austria or its neighbour Switzerland. If Sweden and Finland’s applications are approved, it will make Austria the only country on the European mainland to be part of the EU but not Nato.”

Nato’s role is highly overrated anyhow.

A European Army—a Nightmare for Britain

Express wrote on January 25:

“Guy Verhofstadt’s latest push towards a European Union army has been torn apart by Brexiteers… Mr Verhofstadt said: ‘Good news the campaign to free the Leopards seems to have paid off. A pity it was dependent on Americans… Time to build a real EU defence with jointly procured EU weapons!’

“But Brexiteers warned that Brussels is vying to replace the NATO military alliance.

“GB News presenter Martin Daubney, a former Brexit Party MEP, told Express.co.uk: ‘… The EU sees itself as a Poundshop NATO: masquerading as a guardian of world peace, but really it’s about ensnaring EU member states militarily, which few would ever be able to buy themselves out of if they ever decided to leave. As usual with the EU, it’s about power, control, money and political overreach. That’s why they love the spectre of an EU army: it’s not about controlling Putin, it’s about controlling member states; trapping them into eternal EU membership for military security…’

“Fellow ex-Brexit Party MEP Ben Habib added: ‘… the EU views NATO with jealous eyes. It wants NATO’s importance reduced because it aspires to a federal Europe with the unelected EU Commissioners in charge of this new country. And, like all countries, it needs an army. The EU’s desire for self-empowerment at the cost of its member states is inexorably heading towards the end of NATO and its own military command…’”

After Brexit, Britain, a NATO member, is very nervous about the prospects of the end of NATO, as that would mean total isolation of Britain in Europe.  

Australia to Remove British Monarch From Banknotes

AFP wrote on February 1:

“Australia will remove the British monarch from its banknotes, replacing the late Queen Elizabeth II’s image on its $5 note with a design honouring Indigenous culture, the central bank said Thursday. The decision to leave her successor King Charles III off the $5 note means no monarch would remain on Australia’s paper currency…

“Australia is a constitutional monarchy, a democracy with King Charles III as its head of state. A referendum proposing a switch to a republic was narrowly defeated in 1999. The central bank said its decision was supported by the centre-left Labor government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who favours an eventual move to an Australian republic.

“The new banknote would take ‘a number of years’ to be designed and printed, it said, with the existing $5 note remaining legal tender even after the new design is in people’s hands… The RBA’s move was hailed by the nation’s republican movement, which noted that Indigenous people predated British settlement by 65,000 years… The Australian Monarchist League said the decision was ‘virtually neo-communism in action’…

“A British monarch has featured on Australian banknotes since 1923 and was on all paper bills until 1953, the year of Elizabeth II’s coronation…”

Denmark to Conscribe Women Into Compulsory Military Service?

Global Village Space wrote on January 27:

“Women should be available for conscription into the Danish Armed Forces, Defense Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen insisted on Wednesday, arguing that the current state of the country’s military does not allow it to properly defend itself.

“In an interview with TV2, the official stated that Denmark can no longer afford to rely only on volunteers and insisted that everyone, including women, should be eligible for compulsory military service and that the size of the Danish army should be increased.

“The minister stated that Denmark, as well as its neighbors and allies, face a common enemy in the face of Russia, which he claims will wage war on Europe if it is allowed to succeed in Ukraine… Denmark’s current laws permit the Armed Forces to forcefully conscript all physically fit men over the age of 18, with service typically lasting between four and 12 months. Women, on the other hand, are allowed to voluntarily participate, but are not legally obliged to do so…

“Ellemann-Jensen says he believes there should be more of them and stated that ‘the armed forces would benefit from more women,’ noting that the move would also allow the country to meet its NATO membership obligations… Denmark announced last month that it plans to boost its defense spending by $660 million in order to reach NATO’s target contribution of 2% of GDP.”

Soon, compulsory military service for men and women will become the norm for many countries in Europe.

Europe Does Not Need USA Anymore

Foreign Policy wrote on January 30:

“[It is a] misguided notion that Europe is simply incapable of defending itself without the help of the United States…

“Since the end of World War II, U.S. leaders have sought to lead their European allies and, as a corollary, frowned on any steps by Europe toward greater self-sufficiency in defense…  The U.S. government isn’t being disingenuous when it says it favors a strong Europe; it just fails to add that it also wants Europeans to remain dependent on U.S. protection and even compliant when it comes to U.S. preferences on matters of security.

“The idea of Europe developing a self-sufficient military capability outside U.S.-dominated NATO has long been disliked in Washington…

“European governments don’t automatically follow Washington’s script—though they follow its lead more often than not—but have heeded the warnings, happy to oblige and play the role of dependent…

“The U.S.-European security relationship has therefore become progressively divorced from reality. If it is to change, what Europe needs is not more resources but greater political will and self-confidence…”

Europe WILL become independent of the USA.

Elon Musk Warned About Incoming EU Social-Media Law

The Wall Street Journal wrote on January 31:

“A top European Union official told Elon Musk on Tuesday that Twitter Inc. will have to do more over the coming months to prepare for the bloc’s new social-media regulations. Thierry Breton, the EU’s commissioner for the internal market, told Mr. Musk during a video call that there were only a few months left before major online platforms like Twitter will have to be fully compliant with the Digital Services Act… ‘We need to see progress towards full compliance with the DSA. My team will follow closely the work by Twitter and by all other online platforms.’…

“The European Commission, which is responsible for enforcing the DSA, expects to conduct what it referred to as a stress test on Twitter in the coming weeks, according to the summary of the call. Such a test might involve a meeting between Twitter and commission officials to look in detail at which elements of Twitter’s practices are compliant, or not, with the new legislation, the aide to Mr. Breton said.

“Following Tuesday’s discussion with Mr. Breton, Mr. Musk wrote on Twitter that the EU’s ‘goals of transparency, accountability & accuracy of information are aligned with ours.’… The law carries hefty fines for noncompliance and the potential to block a platform’s services in case of certain repeated infringements… Mr. Musk has said Twitter should comply with local laws but generally not take steps beyond that in moderating online content.”

We will have to wait and see how the EU’s new law will affect Twitter and other platforms, and whether and to what extent Musk is willing to compromise.

Pope “Clarifies” His Comment on Homosexuality

The Associated Press wrote on January 28:

“Pope Francis has clarified his recent comments about homosexuality and sin, saying he was merely referring to official Catholic moral teaching that teaches that any sexual act outside of marriage is a sin. And in a note Friday, Francis recalled that even that black-and-white teaching is subject to circumstances that might eliminate the sin altogether.

“Francis first made the comments in an interview Jan. 24 with The Associated Press, in which he declared that laws criminalizing homosexuality were ‘unjust’ and that ‘being homosexual is not a crime.’

“As he often does, Francis then imagined a conversation with someone who raised the matter of the church’s official teaching, which states that homosexual acts are sinful, or ‘intrinsically disordered.’

‘Fine, but first let’s distinguish between a sin and a crime,’ Francis said in the pretend conversation. ‘It’s also a sin to lack charity with one another… When I said it is a sin, I was simply referring to Catholic moral teaching, which says that every sexual act outside of marriage is a sin…’

“But in a nod to his case-by-case approach to pastoral ministry, Francis noted that even that teaching is subject to consideration of the circumstances, ‘which may decrease or eliminate fault.’…”

This last statement would need to be explained…

Palestinian Gunman Kills 7 in Deadly Jerusalem Attack

The Associated Press wrote on January 28:

“A Palestinian gunman opened fire outside of a synagogue in east Jerusalem on Friday night, police officials said, killing seven people in one of the deadliest attacks on Israeli citizens in years. Among the dead was a 70-year-old woman, police said. The attack got underway as Israelis in the area were beginning to celebrate the Jewish sabbath, and may have been in retaliation for an Israeli military raid that killed nine Palestinians in the Gaza Strip just a day prior.

“A number of Palestinians were reportedly seen celebrating the shooting, and the charged violence has cast a shadow over Israel’s still-new government, led once again by hardline Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”

Violence will increase in the Middle East…

How Soros Indoctrinates the Next Generation

The New York Post wrote on January 26:

“Only George Soros could look at the state of American higher education and conclude that it’s not liberal enough.

“In 2020 alone, Soros’ Open Society Foundations budgeted more than $63 million, or just over 5% of its budget, toward influencing higher education here and abroad… From his first charitable grant in the late 1970s to the early 2010s, Soros contributed over $400 million to colleges and universities…

“Georgetown received $1.8 million for the Justice at Stake Campaign, a group that believes there aren’t enough ‘people of color, women, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, and persons with disabilities’ who are judges…

“Get them when they’re young. Teach the youth of America, Europe and elsewhere that police and prisons are the biggest problems society has, we must spend vast amounts on diversity and climate change, and dissent must be censored.

“And that, in short, is the Soros Strategy… By pushing prosecutors who won’t prosecute. Fund ‘fact checkers’ who allow social networks to outsource what gets censored. Promote think tanks that ‘educate,’ and pressure, journalists and politicians, activists and college students.

“At 92, George Soros’ influence over America is at its zenith. It took him years, and billions of dollars, but the cost to the rest of us is immeasurable.”

“Biden Is Preventing Third Temple”

Israel 365 News wrote on or about January 28:

“Jim Barfield, head of the Copper Scroll Project, explains that by giving ancient artifacts found in Israel to the Palestinians, the Biden administration is endangering other temple-related artifacts that will be essential for the building of the Third Temple in Jerusalem.”

The True and Widely Overlooked Story of the Holocaust

Daily Mail wrote on January 27:

“… the way the Holocaust is normally reported in conventional histories… concentrate[s] our minds on the ‘industrialised’ killing in death camps such as Auschwitz, the so-called ‘final solution’, with trainloads arriving and being almost instantaneously dispatched to the gas chambers and the crematoria.

“But this was only part of the story, argues leading Holocaust specialist Professor Dan Stone, in a new book that turns on their head some of the widely-held notions about that terrible era of genocide 80 years ago.

“We certainly tend to get wrong just how widespread the Holocaust was, argues Stone, who is director of the Holocaust Research Institute at Royal Holloway, University of London. The fact that we need to get our heads around — and which many countries still find uncomfortable and refuse to recognise — is that the Holocaust was not solely a German project, but a pan-European crime with tens of thousands of active perpetrators all over the continent…

“Stone writes: ‘Although the persecution of the Jews that led to the Holocaust was a German project — a point which cannot be overemphasised — it chimed with the programs of many European fascist and authoritarian regimes. Without the willing participation of so many collaborators across Europe, the Germans would have found it much harder to kill so many Jews.’

“On the basis of recent research, Stone says, rather than a tale of German occupation, deportation and murder in death camps, the Holocaust should really be seen as a series of interlocking local genocides. The Holocaust was certainly driven, and largely perpetrated by Germans, but actual participation went much further.

“Countries such as France, Norway, Croatia, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania persecuted, expelled and killed Jews. And they did so, not under duress from Berlin, but because to do so fitted with their own long-held anti-Semitic views and nationalist aspiration… Collaboration and complicity were everywhere…

“It is not always recognised that German Jews made up no more than a few per cent of the Holocaust’s six million victims. The vast majority were traditional, observant Jews living in small towns — or shtetls — in Eastern Europe. Moreover, most of them were slaughtered face-to-face before the SS-run death camps were even fully conceived, let alone operational.

“Millions died not in gas chambers, but gunned down en masse in fields, forests and swamps. Many more were starved and worked to death…

“The Nazis had a genocidal fantasy of a ‘world without Jews’ that they wanted to make a reality. But so, too, did many other European countries, whose dreams of creating ethnically pure nations chimed with Hitler’s goals…

“In Norway, France and Hungary, local police rounded up, guarded and deported Jews; in Slovakia, the impetus to deport Jews came from the local fascist regime rather than from the Germans. In Romania, the regime grasped the opportunity provided by the German plans to carry out a Holocaust of its own in Transnistria. Unlike occupied Poland, where the state was overrun by the Nazis, these were independent, or quasi-independent, states choosing to participate and finding reasons and resources to do so…

“The fact is that the genocide of the Jews could not have been so thorough and brutal without active collaboration across a Europe that was widely anti-Semitic, as we can see from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Encyclopedia Of Camps And Ghettos. This lists sites where Jews were held and died. It is more than 900 pages long and contains information on almost 700 places — from the far north of Norway to the Atlas Mountains, from Brittany to Ukraine — with not a single one of them a camp administered by the Germans.

“Some governments took the initiative themselves. The Vichy government in France, for example, pre-empted the Nazis by introducing its Statut des Juifs, the legislation to arrest and deport Jews from France, without the Nazis’ encouragement…

“The Holocaust even spread beyond the boundaries of Europe. Jews in North Africa were subjected to French and Italian racial laws, had their property stolen, and were interned and made to perform forced labour. Some ended up in death camps in Europe.

“Nor did that deep-rooted racism disappear with the defeat of the Nazis. When displaced Jews — the few who had survived, that is — returned to Poland they were subjected to violent attacks. Hungarian Jews were met with incredulity and disdain by those who had stolen their homes and were unwilling to hand them back.

“Recognising that the scope of the Holocaust implicates the whole of Europe, Stone argues, is important because some countries are now attempting to whitewash their past. The Polish government has tried to silence historians who have uncovered information about Poles who handed Jews over to the Nazi occupiers. Similarly, memorials and museums in Hungary selectively interpret the past to make that nation appear an innocent victim or rescuer of Jews, rather than the active participant that it was…

“Acknowledging how widespread the collaboration went in Europe, and how easily so many nations drifted into doing unspeakable things is important, he argues… The lesson he wants us to press home from the Holocaust, is…  that deep and irrational passions can move human beings to collude in terrible things. And nothing in the end can stop people from supporting these dark forces in times of crisis.

“Dismissing the Holocaust as vicious actions of a mad regime is complacent and dangerous. There were political, religious, cultural and social reasons that enabled it to happen and these circumstances, Stone insists, threaten us again…”

Antisemitism is alive and thriving in Europe, and according to the Bible, a massive persecution and martyrdom of Jews is prophesied.

Europe’s Antisemitism Today

 Israel Today wrote on January 27:

“Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Brussels called on Europe to fight online antisemitism on Thursday, stressing that ‘the Holocaust was not conceived in a vacuum.’… ‘Antisemitic discourse festers not only within dark regimes; but within the heartlands of the free, democratic West. Jew-hatred still exists. Antisemitism still exists. Holocaust denial still exists,’ he noted…

“Herzog also stressed to lawmakers the distinction between what he called ‘legitimate’ criticism of Israel and antisemitism… ‘criticism of the State of Israel must not cross the line into negation of the very existence of the State of Israel… Casting doubt on the nation-state of the Jewish people’s right to exist is not legitimate diplomacy. It is antisemitism in the full sense of the word, and it must be thoroughly uprooted…’”

Sadly, it won’t be uprooted… not before Christ returns who will make an END with Anti-Semitism and hatred for Jews.

Pastor Artur Pawlowski—“I Will Not Obey!”

Fox News wrote on January 27:

“A Canadian pastor is facing his final trial [set to begin Thursday, Feb. 2, in Lethbridge, Alberta,] after three years of repeated fines, arrests and imprisonment for keeping his church open during the COVID-19 pandemic. Artur Pawlowski, pastor of the Cave of Adullam congregation in Calgary, said he is accused of causing $400 million worth of damages for officiating a church service during the trucker blockade at the U.S.-Canada border last year… Pawlowski, the first Canadian clergyman to be ticketed for alleged COVID-19 violations, claims the charges against him are an attempt to criminalize his speech...

“When truckers in Coutts protested vaccine mandates by blocking the crossing along Alberta’s border with Montana last February, Pawlowski was invited to deliver a 20-minute speech in which he urged them to ‘hold the line’ against the government without resorting to violence… Days after his speech, he was arrested at his home and spent 51 days in two different prisons, where he claimed authorities abused him by locking him in a small cage, placing him in a psychiatric ward and trying to instigate other inmates to hurt him. The inmates refused and some reached out to him for spiritual guidance, he said.

“Pawlowski told Fox News Digital that he has been under house arrest since his release from prison last April and cannot leave his home without the permission of his probation officer. He ran for political office and became the leader of the Alberta Independence Party last September…

“Pawlowski likened his ordeals to ‘a refining fire’… ‘I noticed, even in my own preaching, that everything we went through — and are still going through — only gave us a stronger faith and zeal and confirmation that everything that we read in the Bible is actually the truth,’ he said.”

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

No Deal re German Leopard Tanks

The following articles set forth, chronologically, the recent development pertaining to Germany’s Leopard 2 tanks.

NBC News reported on January 20, 2023:

 “Defense leaders meeting at a U.S. air base in Germany on Friday failed to resolve divisions over providing advanced battle tanks to Ukraine after more than five hours of discussions about sending more military aid to the embattled country in its war with Russia. The defense minister of Poland, which has pledged a company of 14 Leopard tanks on condition that other countries also supply them, said 15 countries that have the German-made Leopards discussed the issue but no decisions were made…

“Germany would need to consent for the tanks to be given to Ukraine, which is not a member of NATO. Despite pleas from Ukrainian officials, Germany has so far resisted mounting pressure to quickly supply Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv, or at least clear the way for other countries, such as Poland, to deliver them from their own stocks. The U.S. has resisted providing its own M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, citing extensive and complex maintenance and logistical challenges with the high-tech vehicle. Washington believes it would be more productive to send German Leopards since many allies have them and Ukrainian troops would need less training than on the more difficult Abrams.

“U.S. and German officials have given mixed signals about whether Germany is hesitant to provide the Leopards unless the U.S. provides Abrams tanks. A U.S. official familiar with White House thinking reiterated that Germany has expressed hesitance to providing its tanks without the U.S. sending Abrams. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the Biden administration deliberations, added that there was some bewilderment in the administration over the German position, since Britain, another NATO ally, has already agreed to provide tanks. But Steffen Hebestreit, a spokesman for the German government, denied that Berlin demanded that the U.S. supply Abrams tanks alongside any shipment of Leopards…

“Ukrainian leaders and supporters of Kyiv have repeatedly criticized Germany for what they see as holding back critical assistance in the war..

“German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that while there was no resolution yet, ‘we will make our decisions as soon as possible.’ He said he had ordered the ministry to look into the tank stocks Germany has so he can be prepared for a possible green light and be able to ‘act immediately.’ Pistorius added that Germany will ‘balance all the pros and contras before we decide things like that. … I am very sure that there will be a decision in the short term but … I don’t know how the decision will look.’”

Deutsche Welle wrote on January 20: “US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mark Milley expressed doubt that Ukraine would succeed in driving Russian troops out of its territory this year.”

Germany’s position has been sharply criticized by national and international observers, politicians and leaders, as the following articles show.

Germany in Disgrace

Die Welt wrote on January 20:

“The conference of Ukraine supporters is over and Germany is left in a state of disgrace. The new defense minister does not want to promise any tank deliveries, but wants to start by counting how many we still have. The last few months would have been enough time for that…

“After the arms summit at the US air base in Ramstein, the Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk sharply criticized the German government for blocking the delivery of main battle tanks. ‘It is a huge disappointment that Germany ducked the subject of leopards,’ said the former Ukrainian ambassador in Germany to WELT AM SONNTAG. ‘The fact that you still want to weigh things up is nothing but a disgrace,’ says Melnyk. Berlin is wasting valuable time with ‘questionable salami tactics’ in arms aid for Ukraine.”

Bild Online wrote on January 20:

“The CDU foreign affairs expert Johann Wadephul (59) is stunned: ‘We are witnessing Germany’s total failure on the international stage.’ He attacks Scholz directly: ‘Either out of stubbornness or cowardice, he leaves Ukraine hanging and leaves behind a pile of fragments.'”

“Germany Is Making Again a Fool of Itself”

t-online wrote on January 20:

“Discontent is growing: the Russian army is slowly advancing in eastern Ukraine, but Germany is counting its Leopard tanks first. A big disappointment…

“The endless debate on tanks has long since become an embarrassment for Germany internationally. Chancellor Olaf Scholz is seen as a brakeman in the discussion and does not manage to publicly state his reservations about tank deliveries. And the new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (both SPD) made statements at the Ramstein meeting that caused even more resentment and incomprehension…

“Factually and argumentatively, Pistorius’ statements are… a disaster… Pistorius announced that he would examine the Bundeswehr’s Leopard 2 stocks. He wants to get ahead of the situation and be ready if a decision is made to deliver the main battle tank.

“That is completely incomprehensible. The war has been raging since February 24, 2022, and soon, there was talk of surrendering tanks. Is the Bundeswehr only doing this test now or has it already taken place earlier? In the course of the 100 billion euro ‘special fund’ for the Bundeswehr, the Ministry of Defense must have taken stock. That is why the federal government’s initiative is probably one thing above all: playing for time.

“‘The impression that has occasionally been given that there is a closed coalition and Germany is standing in the way – this impression is wrong,’ said Pistorius.

“The German defense minister is indicating that other countries are also hesitant, not just Germany. But this statement is also extremely strange. There is currently no state that openly supports the Germans on the Leopard issue. Not all states that use the battle tank want to deliver it to Ukraine. But the German veto banning Poles, Finns and Spaniards from exporting their own leopards to Ukraine is a unilateral effort by the Scholz government. It has become lonely around Germany.

“In any case, the communication of the federal government is disastrous, no country jumps to Germany’s side. On the contrary: Great Britain, for example, is now supplying Western main battle tanks just to irritate Berlin…

“President Volodymyr Zelensky’s impatience [is] absolutely understandable… To have Ukraine… begging for tanks is unworthy. Germany has to put up with this accusation, even though it is Ukraine’s third-largest supporter. The alliance continues to look to Scholz on the tank issue – and is waiting for leadership.”

With Scholz and the traffic light government (“Ampel Regierung”), Ukraine—and Europe—can wait a long time for leadership.

 Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung wrote on January 20:

“If the federal government does not see itself in a position to deliver Leopards to Kyiv soon, the traffic light (“Ampel Regierung”) should at least give Poland and Finland the green light to pass on the same fighting machines from their stocks to Kyiv. There is backing from the US for this. And indecision eventually just seems like a farce.”

Südkurier wrote on January 20:

“For almost a year, Ukraine has been asking for main battle tanks. And for almost a year it has been put off by the federal government and put off with changing reasons. Not even the angry look from US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the NATO meeting in Ramstein can dissuade the Germans from their eternal tactics…

“No wonder the NATO partners are reacting with increasing irritation, above all the USA. The Chancellor is said to have coolly informed US President Biden that Germany would only deliver the Leopards if the US went ahead with their Abrams tanks. A little later, Pistorius rowed back – which suggests a harsh response from Washington.

“The rift is becoming more and more obvious. Is this what avoiding a German special path that Scholz is talking about looks like?”

Berliner Morgenpost wrote on January 20:

“It is disappointing that Germany is not promising Ukraine any Leopard tanks from its own stocks for the time being. The fact that Scholz announced that an examination of dispensable Leopard reserves at home would only begin now is unabashed – as if there hadn’t been enough time for that.

“But the culmination is that the federal government is even refusing to allow allies, for the time being, to export their Leopard tanks developed in Germany to the Ukraine: This is an unfriendly act that provokes a dramatic loss of confidence among the Allies. The continued hesitation is a strategic mistake. Germany had good reasons not to go alone in increasing arms aid. But now it actually stands alone among important NATO partners – as a procrastinator and brakeman.”

Pforzheimer Zeitung wrote on January 20:

“Germany, so the impression, is becoming increasingly isolated. And Scholz? As always, he refuses to make clear statements. The chancellor remains to be an evasive maneuverer („ein Mensch gewordenes Ausweichmanöver ”).

“But… Germany [does] far more for Ukraine… than is commonly assumed—both financially and in terms of arms deliveries. Nobody hears about that. Maybe that will change now with the new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. Scholz’ weakness has long since meant that Germany has lost its reputation and is no longer considered a reliable partner. This has long-term consequences that go far beyond the war in Ukraine.”

Whether Germany under Scholz will ever get to the point where it will be viewed as a reliable European partner is doubtful. But a new German government will accomplish this in the future.

Germany Gives In, With Ridiculous Excuses

AFP wrote on January 22:

“Germany is ready to authorise Poland to send German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine to help Kyiv fight the Russian invasion if Warsaw makes such a request, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Sunday. ‘If we are asked the question, then we will not stand in the way,’ Baerbock told LCI television after a Franco-German summit meeting in Paris. ‘We know how important these tanks are and this is why we are discussing this now with our partners. We need to make sure people’s lives are saved and Ukraine’s territory liberated.’

“Baerbock, who represents the Greens in Social Democrat Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ruling coalition, said that Poland had yet to make a formal request. Her comments come as Berlin resists pressure from Kyiv to send some of its own stocks of the Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

“Poland has announced it is ready to deliver 14 Leopard tanks to Kyiv but Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said he was waiting for ‘a clear statement’ from Berlin whether countries that have the Leopards can transfer them to Ukraine.”

Baerbock’s comments are more than embarrassing and laughable.

Poland Formally Requests Transfer of German Tanks to Ukraine

Deutsche Welle wrote on January 24:

“Poland’s defense minister says Warsaw has sent a formal request for Berlin to allow the transfer of German-made Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine… Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki later said he would ask the European Union to reimburse the cost of the tanks… The German government confirmed it had received the request, with a spokesperson saying, ‘We will treat the proceedings with the urgency they deserve.’… Still, Berlin stopped short of granting permission for the transfer, instead saying a decision was imminent…”

Bild Online wrote on January 24:

“Now Chancellor Olaf Scholz (64, SPD) no longer has a choice – he has to make a decision: continue to procrastinate or deliver?… The pressure is great – not only from abroad. Opinions are also divided within the coalition: the FDP and the Greens don’t just want to allow other alliance partners to deliver their German tanks. They want to supply German tanks from German stocks themselves. The Chancellor and large parts of his SPD do not want that…

“The federal government could deliver 29 Leopard tanks to Ukraine – as early as the end of March!… said Rheinmetall boss Armin Papperger (59) in an interview with ‘Stern’… According to BILD information, Rheinmetall also has the right to buy back dozens more Leopards -2 tanks from Finland (100), Poland (142) or Italy. These too could be serviced and delivered within a short time – if the chancellor moves.”

Now It Happens Quickly: Germany to Approve Sending Tanks

Deutsche Welle reported on January 24:

“German news magazine Der Spiegel and others published stories on Tuesday evening saying that the government in Berlin had decided to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine… Spiegel magazine reported that the decision would involve sending at least one company of Leopard 2A6 tanks…

“One prominent German security observer, Ulrike Franke, wrote on Twitter that she was surprised to see this decision so soon after the Ramstein meeting of defense ministers less than a week ago. ‘… how and why was it impossible to make this happen for Ramstein? Sooo much broken porcelain to in the end arrive here,’ Franke… wrote in response to the news.”

Chancellor Scholz ridiculously claimed on Wednesday that his decision—or the lack thereof–was well-considered over a period of time. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius stated that the first Leopard 2 tanks could be delivered to Ukraine within three months.

Russia’s Angry Reaction

The New York Post wrote on January 24:

“Germany confirmed Wednesday it was sending battle tanks to help Ukraine in the war — which Russia called a ‘disastrous plan’ that it said was part of wider ‘blatant provocation’ led by the US… It is seen as a major turning point in Western support as it is the first supply of weapons that have a mainly offensive rather than defensive purpose…

“German military officials, meanwhile, noted the painful historic significance for Germany, given the horrors of World War II. ‘German-made tanks will face off against Russian tanks in Ukraine once more,’ said Ekkehard Brose, head of the German military’s Federal Academy for Security Policy…

“Recent opinion polls showed German voters split on the idea, and two opposition parties criticized the move. The far-right Alternative for Germany party called the decision ‘irresponsible and dangerous,’ saying that “Germany risks being drawn directly into the war as a result.’ The Left party also warned of a possible escalation in the conflict.”

The U.S. Sun wrote on January 24:

“One high-profile Putin mouthpiece demanded Berlin’s Bundestag parliament should be reduced to radioactive ash in retaliation. It comes after dithering German chancellor Olaf Scholz folded to international pressure and direct pleas from president Volodymyr Zelensky. He will now send a squadron of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, and allow Nato allies to re-export dozens more.

“The Kremlin today hit back saying any tanks supplied by Germany and the US will ‘burn like all the rest’. And raging Moscow TV pundit Yevgeny Satanovsky said warheads should be launched on the centre of German democracy.

“He said: ‘German tanks with crosses on their armour will again march across Ukraine attacking Russian soldiers. I have a natural reaction to this – the Soviet Union bombed Berlin in 1941. And to me this is a signal that the Reichstag, or Bundestag, which now replaces the Reichstag, simply should not remain standing any longer. Flat, slightly radioactive, melted-down ground [will remain in its place].’

“Another of Putin’s favourite propagandists, TV host Vladimir Solovyov, claimed it meant Germany had joined the war. He ranted ‘It’s time to send a clear, resolute message that we now consider Germany a direct party to the conflict, rekindling memories of World War Two. German tanks appearing [in Ukraine] will definitely mean we consider German territory, military bases and other sites as legitimate targets.’…

“Meanwhile, Joe Biden was poised to approve sending around 30 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine… It is a major reversal after Washington argued against sending its premier battle tank into the conflict with Russia…  However, despite the U-turn, it could still take months or even years for the tanks to be delivered.”

Germany’s Post-War Planning

TRT World wrote on January 20:

“In 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula, Boris Pistorius was among many German politicians who opposed western sanctions on Moscow. Nearly a decade later, Pistorius is the new German Defence Minister, a job he has been thrust into amid Russia’s nearly year-long assault on Ukraine… Pistorius’ post, reportedly declined by several other politicians sounded out by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, is unenviable for different reasons, including the huge task of reforming the underfunded German military structure.

“…  the Russian attack on Ukraine ‘undermined’ the SPD’s soft approach toward Moscow, leading to a change of heart in many people holding senior positions in the leftist party, like Pistorius…

“While Pistorius had connections with political circles close to former Chancellor Gerhard Schroder –  a Social Democrat close to Russian President Vladimir Putin –  he is not pro-Russian… Pistorius is from a leftist political tradition that has long advocated good relations with Russia for political and economic reasons…  Pistorius’s appointment might signal that Germany seeks a kind of post-war realignment with Russia… Germany desperately hopes to see the end of the Ukraine war, and in that sense, Pistorius’s appointment might make perfect sense to lay out Germany’s post-war planning…”

Ukraine and Russia will unite, and Germany will try to create again a friendly relationship with them, but ultimately, it will not work out.

Bundeswehr to Become Most Powerful Army in Europe?

Euro Weekly News wrote on January 22:

“Boris Pistorius, the new German Defence Minister, on Saturday, January 21, announced his plan to turn the Bundeswehr into the most powerful army in the European Union… ‘Germany is the largest economy in Europe, so it should also be our goal to have the strongest and best-equipped army in the EU. However, this cannot be done in three years, it will take a few more years. My job is now to set the course for the turning point to succeed’, he told the news outlet [Bild am Sonntag].

“When asked by the German publication what resources the Bundeswehr needed most urgently, he responded: ‘Everything has to happen at the same time now: the procurement of weapons and equipment, the modernisation of the barracks, and the recruitment of personnel. Also, the troops have to feel that you trust them and are grateful for what they do.’”

Germans Still Pacifists?

The Local wrote on January 20:

“As Ukraine and Germany’s NATO allies wait on Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s decision about whether to send modern Leopard tanks to Ukraine, the German government has been accused of dragging its feet and wasting valuable time as more Ukrainians die in Russian attacks.

“Some political observers have argued that Scholz is simply following the will of German voters, who tend to have strongly pacifist tendencies, and would prefer he stay cautious on delivering tanks. But polls conducted over the last year show us a society that’s quickly changing its opinions on military force, and on supporting Ukraine with weapons.

“One recent poll by public broadcaster ARD finds a fairly even split among German voters on whether to send Ukraine tanks, with slightly more in favour (46 percent), than against (43 percent). To be sure, that signals that there’s still a sizeable pacifist tendency among ordinary Germans. But only one year ago, just before Russia invaded Ukraine, 73 percent of Germans were against sending any weapons—of any kind—to Ukraine at all.

“Things changed very quickly after the invasion, with 78 percent of Germans in one Forza poll at the time responding that sending weapons to Ukraine, particularly air defence, was the right thing to do.

“Recent polls do show that Germans are a little more reluctant to send heavier weapons—like tanks. But to have a slight plurality in favour of sending heavy-duty tanks when so many were against sending any weapons at all just a year ago shows just how much the invasion of Ukraine has changed German society… it’s getting harder to say that Germany is a pacifist society in general.”

Germany’s move to its militaristic past is only a matter of time.

Rumble Shuts Down in France

Western Standard wrote on January 21:

“Online video platform Rumble will be shutting down in France after the government demanded it remove Russian news outlets from the platform. ‘Users with unpopular views are free to access our platforms on the same terms as our millions of other users,’ said Rumble in a Tuesday statement. ‘Accordingly, we have decided to disable access to Rumble for users in France while we challenge the legality of the government’s demands.”’

“Rumble was founded in 2013 by technology entrepreneur Chris Pavlovski. It hosts a number of conservative public figures who have been censored by other social media platforms… Rumble said as part of its mission to restore a free and open internet, it has ‘committed not to move the goalposts on our content policies.’

“The statement said the decision will not have a material effect on the company, as France represents less than 1% of users. It said the French people will lose access to a wide range of videos because of the government’s demands…”

Thema News added on or about January 21:

“‘The French Government has demanded that Rumble block Russian news sources,’ [Rumble CEO Chris] Pavlovski said Wednesday. ‘Like Elon Musk, I won’t move our goalposts for any foreign government. Rumble will turn off France entirely (France isn’t material to us) and we will challenge the legality of this demand.’

“Pavlovski’s mention of Musk, the new owner of Twitter, referenced the billionaire’s refusal in March to block Russian news sources from his Starlink satellite internet service, which he provides free for Ukraine amid its invasion by Russia (At the time, Musk wrote: “Starlink has been told by some governments (not Ukraine) to block Russian news sources. We will not do so unless at gunpoint. Sorry to be a free speech absolutist.”)

“European nations have attempted to silence any pro-Russian news sources amid the war, which began in February. RT, the Moscow-controlled television network previously known as Russia Today, was essentially purged from western nations in the wake of the invasion. The European Union and Canada all banned the network, and it shut down U.S. production after major U.S.-based social media platforms blocked its content, cable and streaming services dropped its programming, and Apple and Microsoft removed its app from their offerings.

“While RT France and Sputnik were already banned from airing on television or online in France and elsewhere in the EU, they got around the sanctions by putting their content on social media platforms not based in the European Union.”

And Now… Newsmax Being Censored

Newsmax reported on January 25:

“At midnight Tuesday, AT&T’s DirecTV cut Newsmax’s signal, immediately shutting the network off from more than 13 million customers of the satellite service, DirecTV Stream, and U-Verse. This is the second time in the past year AT&T has moved to cancel a conservative channel, with DirecTV deplatforming OAN in April.

“Despite Newsmax being the 4th highest-rated cable news channel in the nation, a top 20 cable news channel overall, and watched by 25 million Americans on cable alone, according to Nielsen, DirecTV said it was taking the step as a ‘cost-cutting’ measure and would never pay Newsmax a cable license fee.

“DirecTV pays cable license fees to all top 75 cable channels and to all 22 liberal news and information channels it carries. Almost all of these channels are paid hefty license fees significantly more than Newsmax was seeking — and despite the fact that most of the channels have much lower ratings than Newsmax. ‘This is a blatant act of political discrimination and censorship against Newsmax,’ Christopher Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax said. ‘The most extreme liberal channels, even with tiny ratings, get fees from AT&T’s DirecTV, but Newsmax and OAN need to be deplatformed,’ Ruddy added.

“Last week, as news spread in Congress that AT&T DirecTV was moving to deplatform Newsmax, 41 Republican congressmen led by Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, sent a letter to the CEOs of AT&T, DirecTV, and hedge fund TPG Capital, the minority operator of the satellite system, warning of hearings.

“The members of Congress also demanded to know why conservative media was being targeted for censorship, with the letter noting the House is ‘deeply concerned about this undemocratic assault on free speech.’…

“AT&T DirecTV’s decision to drop OAN and Newsmax comes on the heels of a February 2021 letter written by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and then-Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., demanding that cable and satellite TV providers explain their alleged role in the ‘spread of dangerous misinformation’ by carrying conservative networks. After the Eshoo and McNerney letter, in April 2022, AT&T removed OAN from DirecTV.

“About the same time, the Biden administration speedily approved AT&T’s proposed $43 billion merger of its WarnerMedia division with Discovery…

“As news reports indicated the likelihood of a Newsmax deplatforming Tuesday night, DirecTV representatives made false claims to the media about Newsmax and its negotiations. DirecTV falsely claimed to media outlets that Newsmax is asking for a fee but still wants to keep a free stream on OTT platforms…”

More Unclean Ingredients in Europe’s Food

Report 24 wrote on January 16, 2023:

“Looking at the ingredient list should be part of grocery shopping. EU citizens who do not want to ingest insects unknowingly should be particularly careful: the EU Commission has already approved four types of insects in different processing forms as ‘edible insects’. The most recent approval was on January 5: From now on, after mealworms, grasshoppers and crickets, the grainmold beetle (“Getreideschimmelkaefer”) can also be used as an ingredient in foods such as bread, soups, pasta, snacks, peanut butter and chocolate products…

“The mealworm received the first approval for a so-called ‘edible insect’ in June 2021…

“Where insects are used, there must be a statement on the packaging of the food that consumption may cause allergic reactionsin people with known allergies to crustaceans and mollusks and their products and to house dust mites (“Hausstaubmilben”).

“…In November 2021, approval followed for…frozen, dried and powdered…migratory locusts (Wanderheuschrecken”)…

“Since 2022 and 2023 respectively, the house cricket… has been permitted in various forms (frozen, dried and powdered)…

“[From] January 5… the grainmold beetle (“Getreideschimmelkaefer [is] [approved] in frozen, paste, dried and powdered forms.”

The article ending, “Klaus Schwab Says Bon Appetit!,” gives a detailed listing of which products may have any or all of these “food additives”. These include:

Cookies, pasta, bread, rolls, soups, sauces, sausages, salads, chocolate, nuts, crackers, peanut butter, meat preparations, and beer-like alcoholic beverages. A thorough review of the list of ingredients is recommended.

Conspiracy Between White House and Justice Department to Hide the Biden Scandal

Breitbart wrote on January 20:

“The plot to hide the scandal, initially designed by eight of Biden’s closest confidants with apparent approval from the Justice Department, was suddenly leaked to CBS News 68 days after Biden’s personal attorney unearthed the classified documents at the Penn Biden Center. It is unclear why or what Biden’s personal attorneys were originally seeking at the center funded in part by anonymous Chinese donations.

“According to the New York Times, there is suspicion within the White House about how the scandal became public after it had been tightly under wraps for weeks between Biden’s eight aides and the Justice Department. Despite the administration’s claims of transparency after the fact, those eight aides and the DOJ agreed to hide the scandal from the American people until it leaked to the press on January 9, sixty-eight days after the documents were unearthed by an unknown cause on November 2, the Washington Post reported Thursday.

“The president’s senior adviser Anita Dunn was initially ‘adamant’ about hiding the legal disaster from the press because ‘the only thing that would create legal exposure would be drawing public attention to it,’ the Times reported Friday. The plot to keep the scandal concealed from the public was further fueled because the aides worried ‘the very act of publicizing the discovery of the documents would create a political furor that would make the appointment of a special counsel unavoidable.’

“‘The quiet cooperation continued for weeks’ between the aides and the DOJ, which not only tried to obscure the scandal from public view but refused to divulge that the second trove of classified documents was already unearthed at Biden’s home in Wilmington when CBS News first contacted the White House about the initial leak of classified documents apparently illegally stored at the Biden Penn Center, according to the Post.

“Biden’s personal attorneys were not the individuals who sought to unearth more documents at Biden’s residence. The Times reported the widened search was demanded by the DOJ. After about 25 classified documents — some of which are top secret — were found between three locations, the DOJ appointed a special counsel, a move Biden’s aides reportedly were trying to prevent…”

This is SO perverse.

FBI Finds More Classified Documents

The Associated Press wrote on January 22:

“The FBI searched US President Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, on Friday and located six additional documents containing classified markings and also took possession of some of his notes, the president’s lawyer said Saturday.

“The president voluntarily allowed the FBI into his home, [later, the White House claimed that Biden’s attorneys requested the search] but the lack of a search warrant did not dim the extraordinary nature of the search. It compounded the embarrassment to Biden…

“Though Biden has maintained ‘there’s no there there,’ the discoveries have become a political liability… and they undercut his efforts to portray an image of propriety to the American public…”

… And Now Pence…

ABC News wrote on January 24:

“Classified documents have been found in the home of former Vice President Mike Pence and turned over to the FBI for review…  The revelation makes Pence the third high-profile official to have classified material discovered at their residence in recent months, after Biden and former President Donald Trump…

“Pence had engaged outside counsel on Jan. 16 to review records that were stored in his home… The materials seemed to have been ‘inadvertently boxed and transported’ to Pence’s home, [Pence’s attorney] wrote, and he had been ‘unaware’ of their existence…

“Pence previously told ABC News’ David Muir that he did not retain any classified information after leaving office… ‘There’d be no reason to have classified documents, particularly if they were in an unprotected area.’…

“Lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee reacted more colorfully. Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va. [and] Florida’s Marco Rubio, the ranking Republican member… agreed there may be ‘systemic problems’ in how the executive branch deals with classified documents and over-classifications.”

The nonchalant attitude towards top secret documents of all involved (and possibly many more who have not been identified yet) is frightening.  

More Appalling Evidence—Team Biden Used Big Tech to Censor

On January 23, The New York Post published the following article by Jeff Landry (R), Louisiana’s Attorney General:

“… as we dig deeper into discovery in our Big Tech censorship case — Missouri and Louisiana v. Biden — we uncover ever-more truly appalling abuses of power that President Joe Biden’s director of digital strategy, Rob Flaherty, admitted come from ‘the highest (and I mean highest) levels of the’ White House.

“Such evidence proves the Biden administration is leveraging its power to coerce social-media companies to suppress the speech of thousands, if not millions, of Americans who disagree with its political narratives.

“Naturally, the First Amendment prohibits censorship. Yet the Biden team has worked to circumvent this fundamental constitutional protection by inducing, threatening and colluding with private companies to suppress speech. It’s illegal; but when Big Government enters into such a conspiracy with Big Business to violate your rights, it’s also known by another name: fascism.

“While that word may conjure up images of World War II, we must remember the horrors of that conflict’s end have blinded us to the subtlety of the start. And who needs to burn books when you have algorithms?

“Either way, totalitarianism cannot tolerate free thought or speech any more than a petulant Flaherty can tolerate a tech company showing even a moment’s hesitation at fulfilling Biden’s demands for increased censorship. When Facebook didn’t answer one of his emails in a chain demanding the company take down a Tucker Carlson video, after it told him ‘it does not qualify for removal,’ Flaherty sent a one-line followup: ‘These questions weren’t rhetorical.’…

“The trouble is totalitarianism requires a ruthless conformity and complete allegiance to the cause of the state without argument. That pattern of behavior, and utter contempt for our Constitution, is blatantly obvious in Flaherty’s hostile emails to Facebook, Twitter and Google.

“‘As we move away from a supply problem toward a demand problem,’ Flaherty wrote to seven employees of YouTube parent Google in April 2021, ‘we remain concerned’ YouTube ‘is “funneling” people into hesitance and intensifying people’s hesitancy’ about the vaccine…

“Flaherty knows what he’s doing is wrong… But that never stops him or other Biden officials from coercing, conspiring and colluding with tech companies in illegal conduct.

“He even uses some platforms to intimidate others, suggesting to Google he’s getting less pushback from other ‘platform partners’ of ‘similar scale’…

“No one is exempt, no matter [the] political party or creed. This administration is determined to control all flow of information and keep the populace ignorant to any message outside its chosen narrative.

“Tucker Carlson, who hosts one of the highest-rated prime-time cable-news programs, has been censored. Robert Kennedy Jr., a US attorney general’s son and a president’s nephew, has been censored

… our First Amendment… is the vanguard against fascism and totalitarianism. This is why our lawsuit is so important. It… reminds the world such dangerous threats to American liberty shall not be tolerated — not even if they come from Pennsylvania Avenue.”

George Soros the Most Dangerous Man in America?

The New York Post wrote on January 23:

“George Soros is the most dangerous man in America. The investor is intent on remaking the country in his liberal image, from our foreign policy priorities to undermining our criminal justice system…

“A new report from the Media Research Center has exposed connections between billionaire liberal financier George Soros and 54 prominent media figures. As documented by its authors, Joseph Vazquez and Dan Schneider, these include reporters, anchors, columnists, editors, news executives and journalists.

“The highest-profile media figures revealed to have connections to Soros, often due to them sitting on boards of organizations he funds, include:

“CNN’s Christiane Amanpour sits on the board of the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative journalism group funded by Soros, that critics charge mainly targets Republican fundraisers. NBC’s Lester Holt, the Washington Post’s Sally Buzbee, Associated Press executive editor Julie Pace, and Reuters editor-in-chief Alessandra Galloni all sit on the board of the Committee to Protect Journalists, a Soros-funded organization that purports to defend the rights of journalists.

“CBS’s Margaret Brennan and CNN’s Fareed Zakaria serve on the board of the massively influential Council on Foreign Relations, a Soros-backed think tank specializing in US foreign policy.

“NBC’s chairman Cesar Conde is on the board of the Aspen Institute, a Soros-backed think tank. In recent years, it launched a left-leaning commission to combat so-called disinformation, and was implicated in the suppression of the New York Post’s Hunter Biden laptop story in the recently released Twitter files. NPR’s president and CEO John Lansing is connected by the direct funding Soros gives his publication.

“PolitiFact editor-in-chief Angie Dronbic Holan serves on the board of the Soros-backed International Fact-Checking Network, which has openly pressed Facebook to censor what it considers misinformation (i.e., anything that goes against the liberal narrative), and serves as the ‘high body’ for dozens of fact-checking organizations under its umbrella.

“And it shows in their coverage. Not only does Soros fund the media to push his radical-left agenda, his funding has the added effect of insulating him from criticism…

“During the Brett Kavanaugh hearings in 2018, the Soros-funded ThinkProgress called reports that  Soros was paying people to protest against then-President Donald Trump an ‘anti-Semitic conspiracy theory,’ and accused Trump himself of ‘getting in on the anti-Semitic action.’ Meanwhile, Soros was spending $5 million on the effort to thwart Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination, and his accuser Christine Blasey Ford’s lawyer Debra Katz was vice chair of the Project on Government Oversight, which has been directly funded by Soros’ Open Society Foundations.

“NPR has received nearly $2 million from Soros in the past to hire up to 100 new reporters. When Spanish language broadcaster Radio y Televisión Martí ran a 15-minute segment on the influence of Soros, warning that he has his ‘eyes on Latin America,’ NPR branded it ‘taxpayer-funded anti-Semitism against George Soros’…

“This ‘Any criticism of Soros is anti-Semitic’ narrative has naturally spread to other left-wing publications, such as the Associated Press, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and seemingly everywhere else. So mindless is this type of charge that one publication, Moment Magazine, accused the Jewish prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, of anti-Semitism for daring to criticize Soros.

“Soros went into overdrive in funding his media empire in the Trump era, with other research from the MRC finding that from 2016 to 2020, Soros dished out at least $131 million to influence at least 253 journalism and activist media groups to promote far-left views on abortion, economics, the police, environmentalism, LGBT ideology, and anti-Americanism. A common strategy for when those outlets report on any misdeeds of Soros is to frame the allegations as ‘conspiracy theories’ from people with sinister motives…

“Publications that employ journalists that also serve on Soros-funded boards include the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Baltimore Sun, CNN, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, ABC News, the Sacramento Bee and countless more.

“Others will simply downplay any alleged wrongdoing or accept Soros’ counternarrative without question…”

Sebastian Kurz a Globalist?

Report 24 wrote on January 20:

“As is well known, Sebastian Kurz was and is a member of the WEF’s Young Global Leaders program and as such is considered a close confidant of Klaus Schwab. The extent to which he represents his agenda and concerns or how he represented it as Chancellor of Austria can only be speculated on, as there is of course no definitive evidence or an admission. Kurz was also active in George Soros’ important think tank, the European Council for Foreign Relations.

“So we can rightly consider him as a part of the globalist jet set. His visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos proves that this classification is correct. He openly shows on his Twitter appearance how well connected he is in the world of globalists…”

It is amazing what is all happening behind the scene, of which the in many respects “willfully ignorant” general public has no concept.

Trump: “Don’t Cut Medicare and Social Security”

Breitbart wrote on January 20:

“Former President Donald Trump warned Republicans not to vote for any cuts to social security or medicare as lawmakers spar over the debt ceiling. ‘Under no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from medicare or social security to help pay for Joe Biden’s reckless spending spree, which is more reckless than anybody’s ever done or had in the history of our country,’ Trump began at the start of his latest campaign video, released Friday. He emphasized that Biden and the Democrats have ‘wasted trillions on left-wing lunacy’ and that they have ‘thrown open our treasury and our borders to migrants from all over the world.’

“‘While we absolutely need to stop Biden’s out-of-control spending, the pain should be borne by Washington bureaucrats, not by hardworking American families and American seniors,’ said the 45th president, adding that seniors have been ‘absolutely destroyed in the last two years.’

“On Friday, Trump highlighted that cuts could be made on a number of fronts, including cutting ‘hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars going to corrupt foreign countries,’ cutting ‘the mass releases of illegal aliens that are depleting our social safety net and destroying our country,’ ending radical gender programs in the military and nixing reckless funding on ‘climate change extremism.’

“‘Cut waste, fraud, and abuse everywhere that we can find it, and there’s plenty of it, but do not cut the benefits our seniors worked for and paid for their entire lives. Save social security, don’t destroy it,’ he warned.”

Hopefully, Republicans will heed this warning.

Trump Fines for “Frivolous” Lawsuit Against Clinton

Newsmax wrote on January 20:

“A federal judge on Thursday sanctioned former President Donald Trump and attorney Alina Habba nearly $1 million for filing a ‘frivolous’ lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and other Democrats. U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks of Southern Florida ruled that Trump, Habba and Habba Madaio & Associates were liable for $937,989 in the suit, which he dismissed in September. ‘This case should never have been brought,’ Middlebrooks, who was appointed by then-President Bill Clinton, wrote… ‘Its inadequacy as a legal claim was evident from the start. No reasonable lawyer would have filed it. Intended for a political purpose, none of the counts of the amended complaint stated a cognizable legal claim.’…

“In March, Trump sued Clinton, who was his opponent in the 2016 presidential election, and several other Democrats, alleging that they tried to rig that election by tying his campaign to Russia. Middlebrooks in November sanctioned Habba and three other attorneys for their handling of the since-dismissed lawsuit. They were ordered to pay a $50,000 court penalty, along with more than $16,000 in attorney fees to one of the named defendants in Trump’s lawsuit.

“In Thursday’s order, Middlebrooks ordered Trump and Habba to cover the legal costs for the 31 defendants linked to the lawsuit.

“The judge also called out Trump in the order… ‘Mr. Trump is a prolific and sophisticated litigant who is repeatedly using the courts to seek revenge on political adversaries. He is the mastermind of strategic abuse of the judicial process, and he cannot be seen as a litigant blindly following the advice of a lawyer. He knew full well the impact of his actions.’”

Without stating an opinion on the veracity of the judge’s decision, the fact that the judge was appointed by Bill Clinton raises more than an eyebrow and should perhaps have induced the judge to recuse himself as being potentially biased.

Trump’s Accuser Accused

The Washington Free Beacon wrote on January 23:

“Charles McGonigal, who led the FBI’s counterintelligence division in New York, is accused of violating U.S. sanctions on behalf of Oleg Deripaska, a Russian aluminum magnate with close ties to Vladimir Putin… McGonigal, who was arrested on Monday, allegedly received $225,000 from a former Russian intelligence officer while he was still employed by the FBI.

“The indictment marks a surprising twist given McGonigal’s involvement with the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s links to Russia. As a top counterintelligence official, McGonigal was one of the first individuals at the FBI to learn that a Trump campaign adviser had discussed Hillary Clinton’s emails with a foreign diplomat. The FBI opened its investigation of the Trump campaign based on that conversation, but later found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

“McGonigal, who left the FBI in 2018, was involved in the bureau’s probe of Trump campaign adviser Carter Page… It is unclear what other involvement McGonigal had in the Trump-Russia probe. But that investigation also scrutinized Deripaska’s relationship with former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Manafort and Deripaska had business dealings in Ukraine and maintained contact during the 2016 campaign.

Deripaska also has ties to former British spy Christopher Steele, who alleged in an infamous dossier that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government to influence the 2016 election. The FBI relied heavily on Steele’s dossier for its investigation, but failed to verify the collusion allegations. Deripaska once hired Steele to work on a ‘research project’ on his behalf.”

Pelosi Summoned Priests for Exorcism

Breitbart reported on January 22:

“Nancy Pelosi summoned Catholic priests to perform an exorcism of her San Francisco townhouse to rid it of evil spirits, TMZ reported Sunday.

“The former Speaker of the House and her daughter, Alexandra, delivered the news in an interview with Maureen Dowd of the New York Times published Saturday…

“Pelosi has made a point of describing herself as a ‘devout’ Catholic, despite her wholehearted advocacy of abortion in flagrant opposition to Church teaching.”

Saudi Arabia Insists on Two-State Solution

The Times of Israel wrote on January 20:

“Saudi Arabia will not normalize ties with Israel in the absence of a two-state solution with the Palestinians, the kingdom’s top diplomat has said, according to a tweet by the foreign ministry on Friday.

“The comments by Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed normalization with Saudi Arabia in talks with White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Jerusalem on Thursday. ‘True normalization and true stability will only come through… giving the Palestinians a state,’ Prince Faisal told Bloomberg at the summit.”

Saudi Arabia (“Ishmael” in the Bible) will turn against Israel.

Controversy Between Biden and Netanyahu Inevitable

The Jewish News Syndicate (JNA) wrote on January 18:

“… with Netanyahu back in power, the pressure on Biden to start acting like his old boss Barack Obama and go to war with Netanyahu is getting harder to ignore… many Americans… like Biden… claim to love Israel but only on their own terms. They only think Israel deserves support as long as it obeys orders from Washington and acts as if it is a deep blue colony of liberal Jews living abroad, rather than a Jewish state filled with people with their own ideas, and who understand that they live in the Middle East and not the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

“… if there’s anything that we’ve learned about Biden’s presidency, it’s that he has steadily drifted to the left for fear of offending the activist and intersectional base of his party. That’s been evident on a host of issues, ranging from illegal immigration to his bending of the knee to the Black Lives Matter movement and the imposition of the hard-left’s DEI—diversity, equity and inclusion—-catechism throughout the government.

“For now, Biden is too committed to doubling down on an endless and unwinnable war in Ukraine to want to get drawn into a battle over who should govern Israel. But as the Israeli left turns up the volume on its anti-Bibi resistance effort, the idea that America has a ‘duty’ to save Israel from itself will be gaining more and more support in the liberal corporate media. The fact that distorted coverage of Israeli judicial reform is already getting more attention in the American press than Iranian executions of dissidents is a sign of what is to come.

“And as the 2024 presidential race begins in earnest later this year, Biden’s need to curry favor with his party’s left wing will make him less, not more, likely to avoid fights with the Jewish state. Whether the excuse concerns the Palestinians or Israeli efforts to stop Iran, it won’t be easy for Netanyahu to avoid such battles.

“Yet those who are eager for Biden to start ratcheting up the pressure on Netanyahu have short memories. Obama spent his eight years in the White House constantly plotting to undermine and defeat Netanyahu. But each time he did so, he only strengthened the prime minister.

“Netanyahu has many political enemies at home, but those who want to save Israel from itself always forget that its citizens have little interest in accepting diktats from American presidents or liberal Jews who want a fantasy Israel rather than the real one. The more Biden leans on Netanyahu or tries to influence the debate in the Jewish state, the less likely it is that the prime minister will be beaten.”

The relationship between the USA and Israel WILL deteriorate more and more.

Church of England Apologizes to LGBT

Newsmax wrote on January 20:

“Church of England bishops apologized to LGBTQI+ people on Friday for the rejection and hostility they have faced… ‘We have not loved you as God loves you, and that is profoundly wrong,’ the bishops said in an open letter… ‘The occasions on which you have received a hostile and homophobic response in our churches are shameful and for this we repent.’

“The Church of England, central to one of the world’s oldest Christian institutions, the Anglican communion, stood by its teaching that marriage is between ‘one man and one woman’ in the proposals. Gay marriage was legalized in Britain in 2013. A spokesperson for gay and transgender lobby group Stonewall said the Church of England had ‘once again’ fallen short on being inclusive and supportive of LGBTQ+ Christians.”

Church of England Departs Further From the Biblical Truth

Life Site News wrote on January 19:

“The Church of England approved blessings for same-sex civil unions for the first time… Although stopping short of allowing a full-blown, solemn church wedding for same-sex couples, the Anglican bishops of England are allowing church blessings for gay and lesbian civil unions that will include ‘prayers of dedication, thanksgiving and God’s blessing following a legal marriage ceremony.’ The matter will be reviewed next month in a General Synod of the bishops in London.

“Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby defended the new policy. ‘This response reflects the diversity of views in the Church of England on questions of sexuality, relationships and marriage,’ he said in a statement. ‘I rejoice in that diversity and I welcome this way of reflecting it in the life of our church.’…

“Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell went so far as to speak of the Church of England’s casting off the biblical teaching on homosexuality as repentance from sin. ‘We are deeply sorry and ashamed and want to take this opportunity to begin again in the spirit of repentance which our faith teaches us,’ Cottrell said… ‘I hope that these prayers of love and faith can provide a way for us all to celebrate and affirm same-sex relationships.’…

“The new stance of Anglican bishops in England followed an unprecedented intervention this week by Penny Mordaunt, the leader of the House of Commons who in a letter to the bishops pressured the Church of England to allow ‘parishes and clergy to conduct weddings for same-sex couples, or at a minimum, authorize blessings…’

“After the bishops’ decision, former cabinet minister Ben Bradshaw threatened that since the Church of England was still not allowing full solemn Church weddings for same-sex couples, it should lose its ‘established status… Many members across this House, I would judge a majority, believe that by continuing to exclude lesbian and gay people from its full rights, the church is no longer compatible with its established status, which confers the duty to serve the whole nation.’

“It is perhaps not surprising that the Church of England, which broke from Rome over the question of Henry VIII’s desire to divorce and remarry, has now departed even further from Christ’s teaching and that of Scripture on sexual morality and marriage. In Germany, the Catholic bishops appear set on a similar course.”

Severe Winter Storms Divine Punishment?

Israel Today’s Staff wrote on January 19:

“Official Palestinian daily suggests winter storms that devastated the United States were consequence of White House support for LGBT movement…  In late December, the US was hit by severe winter storms–dubbed by many the ‘North Pole bomb’–that claimed the lives of over 100 people. Writing for the official Palestinian Authority daily newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Iraqi columnist Hadi Jalo Mar’i noted that this unprecedented storm struck just hours after the Biden White House was illuminated with the colors of the gay flag in celebration of passing a same-sex marriage bill.

“[He wrote:] ‘…it is our right to reject and condemn any idea and behavior that contradicts human nature, and to wonder what is the secret that causes governments of states that control the world and lead it to defend homosexuality, and even sexual perversion, and to legislate laws defending abominable behavior that contradicts the way of nature and appropriate behavior. All we have to do is to wait and see how much nature’s fury will intensify, according to the will of Heaven…’

“It is not our intention to give credence to the tenets of Islam. But in the matter of homosexuality, their position lines up with that of the Bible, as does their belief that divine punishment befalls nations that promote sinful behavior.”

This is indeed an interesting “coincidence.”

Proselytism Is Pagan?

Israel 365 News wrote on or about January 19:

“On Wednesday, Pope Francis… addressed crowds gathered for his weekly general audience that convincing someone from another religion to become Christian is a ‘pagan’ practice. ‘To evangelize is not to proselytize,’ the pope told crowds gathered in the Vatican… ‘To proselytize is something pagan, it is neither religious nor evangelical.’

“Quoting the late Pope Benedict XVI, who died Dec. 31, Pope Francis said that ‘the church does not proselytize…’

“The pontiff has spoken against proselytizing several times. In the first year of his papacy, in an October 2013 interview with La Repubblica, he said, ‘Proselytism is solemn nonsense, it makes no sense … I believe in God, not in a Catholic God, there is no Catholic God, there is God and I believe in Jesus Christ, his incarnation.’

“In an interview with Spanish language news outlet Mundo Negro back in mid-December, which was published on January 13, Pope Francis [said:] ‘… the most serious sin that a missionary can have is proselytism. Catholicism is not proselytizing.’

“Pope Francis has specifically forbidden attempts to convert Jews…”

The Church of the Eternal God states the following in its Statement of Beliefs:

“We do not believe in proselytizing. Therefore, we do not seek members by having people standing on street corners or going around neighborhoods knocking on doors. We carry out our various projects in an effort to freely give to all people regardless of their race, nationality, or religious affiliation. We believe in the godly way of helping others…”

We do not proselytize, not because we believe it is “pagan,” but because we believe that God has to call someone for salvation in this day and age, and that we cannot convert anyone.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

Biden and Garland in Awkward Positions

DNYUZ wrote on January 13:

“A new special counsel investigation into the discovery of classified documents in President Biden’s home and office puts both him and his attorney general in awkward positions as another special counsel investigates his predecessor for his own mishandling of secret papers… as a political matter, the new inquiry will muddy the case against Mr. Trump…

“Mr. Biden, who excoriated Mr. Trump for being ‘irresponsible’ with national secrets, now has to answer for his own team’s mishandling of sensitive papers… the White House did not disclose the discovery to the public for two months, waiting until after the November midterm elections, before which it might have damaged Democrats… even then the White House did not fully reveal the extent of the situation in its original statement. That statement, released on Monday, confirmed a news media report about a first batch of classified documents discovered at his think tank in November but made no mention of a second set found at his Delaware home in December.

“Only on Thursday, three days after that initial statement, did the White House confirm news media reports about the second batch, which was found in the garage of Mr. Biden’s home in Wilmington, and a… document found nearby on Wednesday night…”

Why did Garland wait until now to appoint a special counsel to investigate Biden while he knew about the sensitive documents in Biden’s possession prior to the midterm election?

Biden’s Credibility Problem

CNN wrote on January 13:

“Joe Biden is facing the worst political crisis of his presidency after a failed attempt at damage control over his classified documents controversy…

“Biden was doomed to face a political furor the moment his lawyers found the first secret vice presidential file in his former Washington office last fall… But then the botched messaging strategy became more clear – when Americans learned that a second batch of classified material, also dating to Biden’s time as vice president, had been found in a search of his home in Delaware. This detail was communicated to the Justice Department on December 20. And yet the White House didn’t disclose that this week when it spoke about the initial documents found last year in an office Biden previously used at the Penn-Biden center in Washington…

“Not only did this make it look like Biden had something to hide, it set up the kind of drip, drip of disclosures guaranteed to supercharge a Washington scandal. And Biden’s bid Thursday to minimize the discovery of secret material in his garage – by saying it was locked to protect his beloved Corvette – didn’t exactly back up his earlier claim that Americans know he takes classified documents seriously.

“The result is that [it] made the prospect of any future prosecution of Trump over his Mar-a-Lago document stash, which may pose his greatest risk of criminal charges, even more politically explosive…

“And there is the haunting fear that grips 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue whenever a special counsel sweeps into view – along with the dreaded possibility that they could uncover some unrelated, but damning area of wrongdoing. Former Biden vice presidential aides – many of whom are now serving in his close-knit White House inner circle– will face the always distracting prospect of testifying under oath.

“And there could be more unflattering details to come out, since CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Phil Mattingly, Jeff Zeleny and Arlette Saenz revealed on Thursday a chaotic administrative process at the end of the Obama administration, which may have allowed vice presidential documents to go astray…

“The White House’s public relations performance so far offers little confidence that Democrats will be able to hammer home their message as the storm rages… the White House’s selective transparency this week does raise some questions of credibility…”

This article is even more remarkable as it was published by left-wing pro-Democratic CNN. Their introduction, however, is an understatement. Biden has had other political scandals before… including Afghanistan and the Hunter Biden laptop debacle, not to speak of the totally out-of-control situation at the Mexican border.  

Hunter Biden Had Access to Sensitive Files

Breitbart wrote on January 13:

“Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the chair of the House Oversight Committee, confirmed that the address on Hunter’s driver’s license is the same as Joe Biden’s Delaware residence. Comer’s report verifies that Hunter had access to Joe Biden’s home where a trove of classified documents was stashed… ‘The Committee is concerned President Biden stored classified documents at the same location his son resided while engaging in international business deals with adversaries of the United States.’

“In 2016, Joe Biden admitted that Hunter had access to his father’s garage… Hunter owned Joe Biden’s residence in 2018… Some of the classified documents discovered are related to Ukraine. The Biden family business has an extensive history in Ukraine.

“In 2017, Hunter Biden was paid $83,000 per month to be on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company. Hunter was appointed to the board of Burisma in 2014 with no previous experience in the energy sector or in Ukraine… Hunter made massive sums of money from Ukraine for which he ‘offered no real work.’ In 2015, Joe Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion from Ukraine if the Ukrainian government did not fire the prosecutor who was investigating Burisma.”

In addition to Hunter Biden’s access to secret and classified documents at Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, which was occupied by Hunter, the White House revealed that no visitor logs exist, “as it is a private residence.” This means, we have no idea as to who had access to these highly sensitive documents.

While Trump was impeached for allegedly threatening Zelensky to withhold money if Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine were not investigated (a claim which was denied by both Zelensky and Trump), Joe Biden openly and publicly admitted and bragged about the fact that he threatened to withhold money from Ukraine unless the prosecutor was fired who investigated the corrupt firm of Burisma for which Hunter Biden worked, and even though Joe Biden was successful with his threat, he was never impeached for this egregious violation of his duties as vice president.  

Justice Department “Independent”?—No Way!

 On January 18, 2023, the New York Post published the following article by Professor Jonathan Turley:

“Given the opportunity to search President Joe Biden’s office and residences, the Department of Justice declined to do so, The Wall Street Journal reports. Instead, it allowed potentially uncleared and unnamed private counsel to search for classified material after the discovery of the highly classified documents in the Penn Biden Center office… the decision raises additional questions over the independence of top law enforcement personnel…

“There is no plausible reason why, given the chance, the Justice Department would not want to conduct a national security search itself. After Nov. 2, the Justice Department was aware that material at the top secret or higher levels was discovered in a closet in the Penn Biden center. It was also aware that the material may have been moved over the course of six years and that other material could be in other unsecured locations. Nevertheless, it reportedly opted to allow uncleared attorneys to search for additional classified material.

“… the decision is breathtaking. It effectively replaced well-established national security protocols with an honor system to be followed by persons unknown. The decision undermines the credibility of the Justice Department in both the Biden and Trump investigations. The department is threatening criminal charges over the mishandling of classified material but opted for a grossly negligent approach itself in the search for additional classified documents. It just rolled the dice and lost…”

Biden’s World Turned Upside Down

The New York Post wrote on January 14:

“A favorite saying among insiders is that two weeks is a lifetime in politics, meaning anything can happen. In Joe Biden’s case, a mere five days was enough to turn his world upside down.

“The news Saturday that more classified documents were found in his Delaware home ends a bizarre week that suddenly put Biden’s presidency in peril and further damaged the sagging credibility of the Department of Justice.

“When reports emerged last Monday that multiple classified documents were found in an office Biden used after leaving the White House as vice president, the propaganda media circled the wagons around him by insisting he’s no Donald Trump. They had a point — up to a point.

“But when reports two days later said a second batch of supposedly secret papers was found in Biden’s Delaware garage, the wall of media protection showed some cracks as the differences between the presidents’ cases narrowed. And when an additional classified page was found in Biden’s Delaware library, and a special prosecutor was appointed Thursday to investigate him, the defenders made a hasty retreat.

“Then came Saturday’s finding, which proves the president was serially sloppy with America’s secrets. The result is that Trump now looks like a lucky man while Biden looks like a man whose luck has run out. It’s been a feature of Trump’s political career that he’s been fortunate in his enemies. Say ‘Hillary Clinton’ and it’s enough said…

“Biden has come to Trump’s rescue, with his multiple document stashes making it nearly impossible for Trump to be prosecuted if Biden isn’t. All the more so because of the way Garland, solidifying his reputation as a bitter partisan hack, kept secret the first Biden document finding of Nov. 2 until after the midterm elections and seemed to be hiding each new finding until it was forced into the open…

“All the president’s men and media helpers won’t be able to limit his predicament to the classified documents. For one thing, the timing of the discoveries couldn’t be worse, coming just as Republicans take control of the House with a pledge to end the see-no-evil approach Dems took to Biden family corruption. Long before the document bombshells, GOP leaders vowed to follow the millions upon millions of dollars that Hunter Biden and Jim Biden, Joe’s brother, got abroad from selling access to Joe. Based on the contents of Hunter’s laptop, it’s certain that Joe benefited from foreign payments.

“As Re. James Comer of Kentucky put it, ‘We’re not investigating Hunter Biden. We’re investigating Joe Biden.’ The quest will be to find how much money Joe Biden reaped and what favors he did in return, primarily as vice president and even possibly as president.

“Regardless of Garland’s intent for the special prosecutor handling Biden’s document case, Comer, Jim Jordan and other GOP inquisitors are not going to stand down. Their probes will serve as fact-checkers and hold Garland accountable while giving the public hope the Biden family grifters will finally face the music.”

It would be something, but highly unlikely, given our corrupt and hypocritical political and legal system…

Democrats Unhappy With New Committee Members

Axios wrote on January 18:

“The White House on Wednesday condemned the addition of far-right Republicans to the House Oversight Committee, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.)… The blistering statement foreshadows the tension that will fester in Washington over the next two years, with the Oversight Committee set to be ground zero for investigations and high-profile standoffs between House Republicans and the Biden administration…

“The House Oversight Committee is preparing to ramp up its investigations into Hunter Biden, the Afghanistan withdrawal, and COVID origins, among other issues. ‘Joe Biden, be prepared. We are going to uncover every corrupt business dealing, every foreign entanglement, every abuse of power, and every check cut for The Big Guy,’ Greene said in a statement Tuesday. Meanwhile, Republicans plan to remove Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) from the House Intelligence Committee, as well as Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.”

Maybe the Democrats are concerned that the Committee will uncover some more unpleasant facts about Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s involvement, the Afghanistan withdrawal and the true origin of COVID and Fauci’s role in it. At least, they should be.

And Now Facebook!

Breitbart wrote on January 13:

“In yet another revelation about the level of collusion between Big Tech and the White House, documents show Facebook not only attempted to suppress ‘incorrect’ content related to coronavirus vaccines, but also took steps to curb the spread of ‘often-true content’ on the subject.

“The information came to light through a series of documents obtained by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, as part of a lawsuit that accuses the Biden administration of violating Americans’ First Amendment rights by colluding with Big Tech to suppress speech. One email, sent by a Facebook staff member to the White House on March 21, 2021, discussed ‘levers for tackling vaccine hesitancy content’ with a senior advisor on Biden’s COVID-19 response team and the White House’s director of digital strategy.

“In the email, the Facebook staffer… acknowledged that in addition to removing misinformation, the company has been focused on reducing the spread of content that discourages vaccines, but does not contain actionable information… users, groups, and pages were being kicked off the largest social network in the world, not for posting ‘misinformation’ — but because people at Facebook determined that their tone was too ‘sensational.’

“This is just the latest revelation to come out of the multi-state lawsuit against the Biden Administration, filed by the states of Missouri and Louisiana. Previously, the lawsuit revealed that the administration pressured tech companies to suppress some of the most popular critics of their policies, including Fox News host Tucker Carlson…

“The case is State of Missouri and State of Louisiana v. Joseph R. Biden, No. 3:22-cv-01213 in District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.”

The level of collusion between the White House and Big Tech is nothing short of appalling…

How Mainstream Platforms Censor You!

Brownstone published on January 12 the following article by Jeffrey A. Tucker:

“Since Elon Musk has taken over Twitter, it’s been quite a wild ride. Thousands of doctors and scientists have been unbanned and are now speaking. Same with journalists. Accounts that posted against Covid restrictions and mandates are now unthrottled…

“Of course, this is also infuriating. When we needed these voices the most was during the biggest attacks on liberty in our lifetime. Now that the powers that be have been forced by public opinion to dial back their oppressions, these voices can speak again. It’s good that the truth is getting out there but imagine the kind of difference it would have made for these 33 months if there had been no blocks on information from the start?…

“There were FBI agents embedded all over the platform. The White House and various deep-state actors were pushing Twitter to censor. After a while, it became the main job of the platform to block reach…

“Twitter is quasi-free now but what about the rest?…

“For years, my Facebook account has been irrelevant to me. I don’t even know why I bother using it at all. We know for sure that Facebook has been subject to the same controls that once affected Twitter. Same goes for LinkedIn and Google, of course. No doubt about that. My typical post sits there with almost no reach at all.

“What I’ve not known is whether I’m targeted directly or my account has long been restricted by virtue of keywords and content. As everyone knows, I shifted my life 3 years ago to post entirely about the invasions of life, liberty, and property that commenced in 2020. I did this not because I wanted to abandon other research projects but rather because Covid became a window into the nefarious works of the ruling class I had long opposed. Plus few others seemed willing to speak out. Most of my own ideological set was predisposed to ‘leave this subject to the experts’ and thus went silent. I went the other direction.

“That decision killed my reach on Facebook. There was nothing I could do about it so I decided just to forget it. But this morning, a friend had a great idea. He suggested that I post a cute animal picture with no other comment other than to say it is a test. I did this very thing [just publishing a cute picture of a puppy dog]… The results: an explosion of reach! Out of nowhere it was like the old Facebook, with comments and conversations and shares, plus many hundreds of likes. Absolutely amazing! At least for me, this test suggests something important.

“Zuckerberg is surely flagging accounts but the main means of control is content. Say something that means something and your post disappears from feeds. Post something stupid and irrelevant and you can have all the views you want…

“What applies here is also true for YouTube, Instagram, and all the rest of the mainstream platforms, which constitute the vast swath of social media content in existence. I like the alternative platforms but they are small players by comparison. The freedom and reach we get today on Twitter is beautiful but how long can it last? Is this a brief window that is opened before it shuts again?

“Nothing has changed on the rest of them, which means that nothing has changed with regard to the state-directed censorship that took over our lives three years ago. That’s a terrifying reality, and especially so for intellectuals and writers who imagined some years ago that these tools would be a gift for making a difference in the world.

“I’m inclined to think that the Elon Musk takeover of Twitter is a fluke – a lucky one to be sure but the strange exception. He should watch his back. The main drive to control the conversation and shape the public mind is still with us: bad actors working to limit criticism of themselves and their policies. It is just as intense now as it was at the height of the lockdowns and drive for universal vaccination…”

There should be no doubt that what the article describes is absolutely true.

Deep Corruption in Washington

On January 16, Ron Paul wrote in his weekly column:

“With each new release of the ‘Twitter Files’ we learn more and more about the deep corruption in Washington. We sensed during Covid that something was really wrong – for example the bizarre denial of natural immunity. But thanks to Elon Musk’s decision to open the books, our worst fears have been proven true. Each new release seems to show something even more criminal inside America’s rotten ruling class.

“In the latest release, thanks to the excellent reporting of independent journalist Matt Taibbi, we see outgoing Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), continuously pressuring Twitter to validate his fantasies of ‘Russian bots’ manipulating US politics.

“The short version of what Taibbi reported comes from around the time then-Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) was about to release his Committee’s findings about the FBI misuse of the FISA Court to spy on the Trump presidential campaign. The FBI, it turns out, relied exclusively on the widely-discredited ‘Steele Dossier’ – paid by the Hillary Clinton campaign – as justification to spy on the Trump campaign.

“When pressure grew to release the Nunes findings, Twitter exploded with users demanding that Congress ‘release the memo.’ That’s where then-ranking Member Schiff and his staff began relentlessly pressuring Twitter to show that the accounts demanding the release of the memo were actually Russian agents, out to help their supposed favorite, Donald Trump. Schiff was not alone. Fellow ‘Russiagate’ hoaxers like Sen. Feinstein (D-CA) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) also pressured Twitter to find Russians behind the demand to release Nunes’ findings.

“Over and over, Twitter – which was hardly sympathetic to Trump – told Schiff and his colleagues there was simply no evidence of Russian involvement… Even after Twitter had informed Schiff and his fellow hoaxers that there was no Russian involvement, Sen. Blumenthal released a statement he knew was not true: ‘We find it reprehensible that Russian agents have so eagerly manipulated innocent Americans.’ Again, this was right after he had been informed by Twitter employees – who were by-and-large strongly opposed to Trump – that there was just no evidence to back up such a statement…

“For political gain the Democrats – and plenty of Republicans – have been pushing the ‘Russiagate’ hoax…”

Defunding and Abolishing the IRS?

On January 14, The Week published the following editorial by Harold Maass:

“The narrow new Republican majority took control of the House this week and, as its first order of business, fulfilling a campaign promise by voting to rescind much of the funding boost for the Internal Revenue Service included in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the legislation, if it became law, would eliminate $71 billion of the $80 billion in new IRS funding…

“Next, Republicans plan to present legislation calling for abolishing the IRS outright. The bills have no chance of passing in the Senate, still controlled by Democrats… [And even if it did, Biden already stated that he would veto such a bill.]

“Republicans will keep the pressure on when Biden’s nominee to run the agency, Danny Werfel, has his confirmation hearing in the Senate soon… Republicans will have other opportunities to try to cut the IRS’ funding… Democrats intended the $80 billion to come on top of regular IRS budget increases of about $12 billion a year. But Congress has to approve those annually…”

Wisconsin to Allow Conversion Therapy

The Associated Press wrote on January 12:

“Wisconsin Republicans voted Thursday to again allow therapists, social workers and counselors to try to change LGBTQ clients’ gender identities and sexual orientations…

“A ban on conversion therapy was passed in 2020 by a state board within the Democratic governor’s administration overseeing licensing for mental health professionals. But a committee in the Republican-controlled Legislature temporarily blocked the ban then and did so again Thursday, with all six Republican members voting to block it and the four Democrats voting to keep it in place…

“At least 20 states and the District of Columbia have outlawed conversion therapy for minors… Wisconsin is not one of them…

“Republican lawmakers in at least 11 states have already introduced legislation to restrict access to transgender health care. Conservatives also have pushed to restrict conversations about sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools…

“Julianne Appling, president of the conservative group Wisconsin Family Action, told the committee that banning conversion therapy infringes on counselors, social workers and therapists’ free speech rights. The state, she said, should not be allowed to threaten their careers for exercising freedom of speech, freedom of conscience and freedom of religion.”

The Release of the Kennedy Files… Sort Of…

The Guardian wrote on December 16:

“Historians and conspiracy theorists have been given an early Christmas present: the release from US National Archives of 13,173 documents relating to the official investigation into the 1963 assassination of President John F Kennedy. From barely legible memos filled with the crabby handwriting of CIA agents, through reports on secret meetings with Russian diplomats, to painstaking detective work on the movements of Lee Harvey Oswald, the trove of documents will keep JFK assassination obsessives busy for months. Few expect bombshells among the pile, however…

“Thursday’s release of thousands of documents means that 95% of the CIA’s records on the assassination are now available to the public. As a final step there will be an ‘intensive one-year review’ of any remaining closed files before a complete opening of the books by 30 June 2023. The unveiling of the CIA documents has been delayed for years. In 1992, Congress ordered their full release by October 2017, but the deadline was pushed back by presidential decrees from both Donald Trump and Joe Biden…

“Hours after Biden released the new files, [Fox News moderator] Tucker Carlson… began his primetime show by telling his 3 million viewers that the CIA did it. Carlson had talked to an ‘unnamed source’ with direct knowledge of the JFK files the CIA was still hiding. The informed view of the ‘source’ was that ‘the CIA was involved in the Kennedy assassination. It’s a whole different country from what we thought it was. It’s all fake… This is not a ‘conspiracy theorist’ we spoke to. Not even close,’ he said.”

The Intercept added on December 22:

“LAST WEEK, the Biden administration declassified a trove of documents related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. While this action brings the government closer to the full disclosure of relevant files mandated by a 1992 law, it still keeps the most sensitive records secret.”

They also quoted Tucker Carlson saying this:

“And people have known this for a long time. The people who knew would include every director of the CIA since November of 1963. And that list would include Obama’s CIA Director John Brennan, one of the most sinister and dishonest figures in American life.

“That list would also include — we are sad to say — our friend Mike Pompeo, who ran the CIA in the last administration. Mike Pompeo knew this. We asked Pompeo to join us tonight, and though he rarely turns down a televised interview, he refused to come.”

It should be rather obvious that if the explanation would simply be, “Oswald acted alone”, there would have not been continued delay in making the documents public, with Trump’s admission that he could not release the documents after he read them. And it is rather naive to assume that the CIA’s documents would include clear-cut admissions by the CIA that they were involved.

Haiti’s Total Collapse

 npr wrote on January 18:

“Haiti, a country long beset by catastrophe and political turmoil, is facing perhaps its steepest challenge in recent decades as its piecemeal government, now lacking any democratically elected officials, struggles to chart a path forward amid gang violence and a cholera outbreak. The constitutional mandate of Haiti’s de facto ruler, Prime Minister Ariel Henry — which some viewed as questionable from the start, as he was never technically sworn in — ended more than a year ago. The country has had no president since its last one, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated in 2021. Its Senate is supposed to have 30 members, and its lower legislative chamber should have 119; all of those seats are unfilled. Haiti’s elected mayors were all reappointed or replaced in 2020.

“And last week, its 10 remaining senators departed office after their terms ended, leaving behind a nation’s worth of elected offices that now sit empty after years of canceled elections. ‘The situation is catastrophic,’ said Robert Fatton, a Haitian-born political scientist at the University of Virginia. ‘It would not be an exaggeration to say that the current crisis is one of the most severe crises that Haiti has ever confronted.’…

“The country of 12 million people last held national elections in 2016. In the years since, the turmoil — political and otherwise — has been relentless.

“Gang violence has displaced more than 150,000 people from their homes and forced aid groups such as Doctors Without Borders to close facilities and relocate staff. A new outbreak of cholera is suspected to have infected nearly 25,000 Haitians since October. In 2021,  an earthquake killed 2,000 people and wrought new devastation to a part of the country that had been hit just five years before by a Category 5 hurricane.

“Rampant inflation has sent the cost of food and gas spiraling; food insecurity is so widespread that about 40% of the population do not have enough to eat. And the disasters have combined to keep thousands of the country’s schools closed, meaning millions of Haitian children have lacked steady education and meals since the beginning of the pandemic. ‘I grew up under dictatorship, so I’m not idealizing the Haiti I grew up under. But this is the first time I think we have seen this level of lawlessness, this level of gang violence where people’s lives do not matter,’ said Cécile Accilien, a professor of Haitian studies at Kennesaw State University…

“Now, Henry stands alone at the head of a fractured, weakened government that appears powerless to address the country’s many challenges: gang violence, cholera, inflation. ‘It’s a collapse,’ said Patrice Dumont, one of the 10 senators who departed office this month… Given the country’s terrible security situation and the lack of popular support for Henry’s government, the idea of elections in the immediate future is ‘frankly preposterous,’ Fatton said…”

Rishi Sunak’s Gut Reaction Almost Always Wrong

The Guardian wrote on January 18:

“To be fair, Sunak has the odds stacked against him. It’s not entirely his fault the Tories voted for Liz Truss rather than him… It’s not his fault that Putin invaded Ukraine. [But he has] a unique talent to make every bad situation worse. His gut reaction is almost always the wrong one.

“Take the strikes. Everyone knows the end game. The unions and the government get around a table and agree a compromise. Everyone except [Sunak]. He has chosen to pick a fight with the nurses and paramedics. A battle he’s never going to win, because almost the entire country has already picked a side. And it’s not with the government. When nurses pay has been eroded over such a long period – some are using food banks to get by – and their union calls for strike action for the first time in its history, then a stand has to be taken.

“Sunak is dying a slow death. Nowhere more so than at prime minister’s questions…”

The Guardian is of course a left-liberal paper in support of the Labor party. Still, we have to wait and see whether and how Sunak will survive.

Boris Pistorius Germany’s New Defense Minister

Deutsche Welle wrote on January 17:

“Boris Pistorius, interior minister of the state of Lower Saxony [for nine years], is to serve as Germany’s next defense minister, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday. The 62-year-old Social Democrat will succeed Christine Lambrecht, who resigned Monday after criticism of her leadership… Scholz has chosen a man who is little known abroad: Boris Pistorius… has gained a reputation for getting policies implemented…

“He is widowed and has two children. In October 2016, it emerged that he was in a relationship with Doris Schröder-Köpf, previously wife of former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. The couple has since separated.

“Pistorius main challenge in office will be administering the special €100-billion fund that Scholz promised the German armed forces in February. According to military analysts, at least €20 billion is needed to fill up stocks of ammunition alone. New frigates, tanks or F-35 combat aircraft also cost billions, plus investments in infrastructure and digitization. And there is a need to streamline procurement procedures in a military that has been racked with inefficiency.

“… the appointment of Pistorius also means that the Cabinet no longer has gender parity. At the beginning of his term in office, Chancellor Olaf Scholz had said that men and women each make up half of society — and therefore women should also have half of the power. If Scholz wants to maintain parity, another Cabinet reshuffle would be necessary.”

France 24 wrote on January 17:

“The man referred to by Der Spiegel magazine as the ‘red general’ has a reputation as a straight talker who can appear undiplomatic at times… In May last year, Pistorius was forthright about Ukraine’s right to recapture territories taken by Russia, putting him at odds with many other Social Democrats who had been reluctant to endorse a counteroffensive…

“However, he was also critical of calls to destabilise Russia, adding: ‘There will have to come a time after the war… when we in Europe will be able get along with Russia, in whatever form.’”

Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Pistorius voiced his opposition to European sanctions against Russia.

Politico added on January 17:

“Having served in Germany’s Bundeswehr prior to his law studies, Pistorius also has some military background. Pistorius faces daunting tasks in his new office. The German armed forces are in a sad state and an announced sea change in German foreign and security policy, Scholz’s so-called Zeitenwende, is in the spotlight as Berlin lags behind on its defense spending targets.

“More immediately, the new defense minister will have to deal with pressure from allies to step up military support for Ukraine by supplying Kyiv with German-made Leopard 2 battle tanks. Poland and Finland have already announced their intention to send Leopards to Ukraine, but the move would require German approval [as the tanks were manufactured in Germany], which Berlin has signaled it might give. The expectation, however, is that Germany should also join a broader alliance of European countries that would collectively send a contingent of such Western tanks.”

The Local had written on January 14 about Lambrecht:

“Critics… questioned [Lambrecht’s] ability to lead Europe’s biggest economy in reviving its long-neglected armed forces in the wake of the war in Ukraine. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Lambrecht, along with Scholz, had been blasted over Germany’s stuttering response to the conflict. The minister was mocked in January 2022 for her announcement that Germany would send 5,000 helmets to Kyiv, where the Ukrainian government was seeking heavy weapons to ward off Moscow.”

We will have to wait and see whether Pistorius is (allowed to be) more decisive than Lambrecht.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

Trump Helped McCarthy Win

Breitbart wrote on January 6:

“Former President Donald J. Trump played a vital role behind the scenes in bringing about a compromise among House Republicans to elect Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as speaker of the House of Representatives…

“On the historic 15th ballot for the speakership Friday night, McCarthy finally sealed the deal and garnered the votes necessary for the position. Voting had raged on since Tuesday, as a block of 21 Republicans, primarily driven by House Freedom Caucus members, repeatedly voted against McCarthy. However, the deal McCarthy and his allies struck with the delegation budged enough detractors to land the California Republican the speaker’s gavel.  Chief among those responsible for forging a compromise was Trump…

“Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who will chair the Judiciary Committee in the 118th Congress and was a crucial player in these negotiations, lauded Trump for his work helping to bring about a deal. ‘This doesn’t get done without the support and leadership of President Trump,’ he told Breitbart News…

“Trump’s involvement persisted throughout this week, including in talks last night and this morning ahead of the crucial breakthrough for McCarthy… On Friday night, he made calls to Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Andy Biggs (R-AZ), both of whom had voted against McCarthy for days, and told them that the matter needed to be resolved. Ultimately on the 15th round, they both voted ‘present,’ helping to lower the vote threshold for McCarthy…

“Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) told Breitbart News on Friday that Trump’s ‘role was huge’ in the negotiations. Specifically, she pointed to his statements in support of McCarthy this week and the phone calls he was making behind the scenes….”

On Saturday, McCarthy publicly thanked Trump for his support and involvement. The Daily Mail reported on January 7:

“McCarthy said of Trump, ‘He was with me from the beginning… and he was all in. He would call me and he would call others. And he really was — I was just talking to him tonight — helping get those final votes.’”

McCarthy’s Concessions

Fox News wrote on January 7:

“Taking the anti-McCarthy votes off the table capped a week in which McCarthy was able to chip away at the 20 Republicans who opposed him, thanks in large part to negotiations that will dramatically reshape the way the House is run. Some of the most conservative members of the House said they got virtually everything they wanted out of the talks and started to break for McCarthy on Friday morning.

“McCarthy agreed to allow a single lawmaker to make a motion to elect a new speaker, returning to the way the House ran for decades before that practice was eliminated under former Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He agreed to votes on term limits and the adoption of a budget resolution that balances the budget in 10 years, and a cap on fiscal year 2024 spending at FY 2022 levels.

“McCarthy agreed to reject any negotiations on spending with the Senate until the Senate passes its own spending bills. He agreed not to increase the debt limit without spending cuts or other fiscal reforms, to set up a committee to examine the weaponization of government against U.S. citizens, and to ensure no bills are brought up on the floor until at least 72 hours passed.”

The last change was adopted to allow Congressional members to at least read a bill before they vote on it. Of course, there is no guarantee that they actually will read (and understand) it.

It was the first time since 1923 that a nominee had not won the gavel on the first vote. In 1856, it took former House Speaker Nathaniel Prentice Banks two months and 133 rounds of voting for the House of Representatives to settle on a leader – the longest stretch on record, during debates over slavery in the run-up to the Civil War. New Jersey’s William Pennington required 44 votes to take the gavel in 1860.

McCarthy’s Priorities

Fox News wrote on January 7:

“House Speaker Kevin McCarthy officially opened the 118^th Congress early Saturday morning, holding the speaker’s gavel and conducting a chamber-wide swearing-in ceremony for new members… McCarthy also revealed some of his priorities for this session of Congress, which included investigating China, securing the country’s border, and attempting to eliminate some of the federal debt, which is over $31 trillion… He also committed to ‘stop wasteful Washington spending to lower the price of groceries, gas, cars, and housing… ‘Our first bill will repeal funding for 87,000 new IRS agents. Because the government should be here to help you, not go after you.’

‘The Republican also said he would reopen the U.S. Capitol Building which remained behind additional security measures and was mostly inaccessible to the public following the riots on Jan. 6, 2021. ‘My friends – this chamber is now fully open for all Americans,’ he said, which was met with thunderous applause from Republicans. Democrats in the chamber remained silent.”

The Daily Mail also quoted McCarthy on January 7 as follows:

“We’re going to pass bills to fix the nation’s challenges from wide open southern borders,  to American last energy policies to woke indoctrination in our schools…  We will use the power of the purse and the power of the subpoena to get the job done.’”

His comment to investigate China must be viewed in the context of his intention to investigate the origins of COVID-19 and specifically the U.S. government’s involvement in any funding of gain-of-function research. He had also declared before his election that Hunter Biden (and by extension, Joe Biden) would have to be investigated pertaining to Hunter Biden’s financial deals (and Joe Biden’s alleged knowledge of them). We will see whether those long overdue investigations will really take place.

McCarthy to Remove Schiff, Swalwell and Omar From Committees

Newsmax added on January 11:

“House Speaker Kevin McCarthy… plans to boot Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., from the House Intelligence Committee, and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., from the House Foreign Affairs Committee as payback for Democrats ousting Republicans from panels. Democrats had stripped Reps. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., of their committee assignments in the last Congress…

“‘Swalwell can’t get a security clearance in the private sector. I’m not going to give him a government security clearance. Schiff has lied to the American public… Last year, I promised that when I became Speaker, I would remove Rep. Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee based on her repeated anti-semitic and anti-American remarks,” McCarthy tweeted. ‘I’m keeping that promise.’”

Congress to Investigate Federal Agencies

Newsmax wrote on January 10:

“House Republicans officially signed off on their promised investigation into Democrats’ alleged weaponization of the federal government against conservatives on Tuesday. In a strict party-line vote of 221-211, the Judiciary Committee’s select subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government was formed, with Republican congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio slated to be chairman…

“The House Republicans’ new probe follows several supposed whistleblowers approaching Republican lawmakers with allegations of political favoritism in government agencies… It also comes after Elon Musk’s ‘Twitter Files’ suggested the FBI provided Twitter with over $3 million to suppress foreign interference in the 2020 presidential election, eventually leading to the platform’s suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story.”

More on the “Twitter Files” scandal below.

Secret Documents at Biden’s Residence

The Associated Press wrote on January 12:

“Documents with classified markings from President Joe Biden’s time as vice president were found at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, the White House said Thursday, days after it was disclosed that sensitive documents were also found at the office of his former Washington institute… the revelation that Biden potentially mishandled classified or presidential records is proving to be a political headache for Biden, who called former President Donald Trump ‘irresponsible’ for keeping hundreds of such records at his private club in Florida…

“White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre… refused to say... why the White House waited more than two months to reveal the discovery of the initial batch of documents. They were found Nov. 2, days before the midterm elections…”

Newsmax added on January 11:

“‘We all know why it was kept secret — right before the midterms — that Joe Biden kept classified documents at his Chinese-funded “think tank,”’ Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., tweeted Tuesday…

“Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., [said:] ‘There’s a double standard when it comes to how to deal with conservatives and liberals under this administration… The media is complicit; social media companies need to be regulated… they’re an extension of the Democratic Party in many ways… America is not a very fair place now when it comes to administration of the law.’”

Sadly, Graham is absolutely correct.

Garland Appoints a Special Counsel

Newsmax wrote on January 12:

“U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday named a special counsel to investigate whether President Joe Biden improperly handled sensitive government documents, setting up a parallel inquiry to an ongoing probe of former President Donald Trump. The inquiry, to be led by Robert Hur, could cast a shadow over the Democrat president’s expected run for reelection in 2024…

“Republicans in Congress called the new discoveries evidence of Biden’s hypocrisy. ‘It’s obvious. Everybody can see it, and it’s on open display for everyone in the country to see,’ Republican U.S. Representative Mike Johnson said…”

 The New York Post wrote on January 12:

“On Thursday, before Garland’s announcement, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters, ‘I think Congress has to investigate this’ and ‘We don’t think there needs to be a special prosecutor.’ ‘Here’s an individual that’s been in office for more than 40 years. Here’s an individual that sat on ‘60 Minutes’ and was so concerned about President Trump’s documents locked in behind, and now we find that this is a vice president keeping it for years out in the open in different locations,’ McCarthy said.

“The speaker was referencing a Sept. 18 interview with the CBS newsmagazine in which Biden described his predecessor as “irresponsible” for keeping sensitive documents at Mar-a-Lago.”

Trump Has Disappointed Many Supporters

Life Site News published on January 5 the following article by its co-founder and managing director:

“[Trump] wrongly claimed the ‘abortion issue was poorly handled by many Republicans [during the midterm elections], especially those that firmly insisted on No Exceptions, even in the case of Rape, Incest, or Life of the Mother, that lost large numbers of Voters.’…

“Any pro-life persons who advocate those exceptions betray a weakness of conviction, a lack of trust in God and the power of His truth… Either all human lives are sacred, or they are not. Either every child is a human from conception, regardless of the circumstances under which they were conceived or they are not human. There is no in-between category or argument. Political pragmatism, when it involves life and death, kills…

“Trump has also killed a lot of his support with his hosting of that massive Log Cabin Republicans event at Mar-a-Lago and his and Melania’s and Kari Lake’s enthusiastic partying with them. In doing so, they gave massive, likely naïve support to the ongoing LGBT agenda… and policies to protect and promote their immoral, anti-life, anti-natural-family lifestyle, and to punish all who even think or speak anything critical of what they do…

“Then there have been Trump’s astonishingly bad, false statements on his Operation Warp Speed, deadly COVID jabs allegedly having saved millions of lives. The exact opposite has now been proven to be the truth… The sudden deaths and cancers, infertility, and many other short- and long-term serious injuries from them continue to increase and even many children, who could not possibly have benefited in any way from the jabs, are now dying from them. This horror story is expanding every day and affecting the entire world – thanks to U.S. government and health agency policies that the rest of the world has relied upon for their own COVID policies.

“Trump should apologize that he listened to all the wrong people and should call for an immediate, worldwide halt on the COVID jabbing and demand criminal investigations of all those who wrongly advocated lockdowns, masking, and all the other deadly, unnecessary COVID mandates and policies that have [devastated] many nations, individuals, families, and businesses…

“Since he was removed from the presidency…, he has not been the same person. Many of us feel betrayed by him… I was hoping that Trump would wake up to the above issues and repent and change, but that has sadly not happened.

“We are in a historic nightmare situation right now in many respects. Whether we will ever have a fair election again is in serious doubt. We must continue to do the best that we humanly can and leave the rest up to God, but compromising our fundamental principles in any way cannot earn us any graces from God who ultimately is the only One who matters.

“We are well beyond compromising political pragmatism being able to save us now. We must change to a policy of being wise as serpents but also fully placing all our trust in God who is the only One who can save us at this time. If we continue to compromise on His principles, He will not save us.”

As we pointed out in our recent Current Events editions, Trump’s statements about abortion and his support of the LGBT community, in order to get their votes, are serious causes for concern. But Trump’s influence should not be underestimated, as the development regarding the election of the Speaker of the House has shown.

The “Absurd” Conduct of the IRS

Reason wrote on January 6:

“[The IRS] continued historic trends of hassling primarily low-income taxpayers [in 2022], with relatively few millionaires and billionaires getting caught up in the audit sweep…

“This is, after all, the agency that sent $1.1 billion in child welfare payments to the wrong people over the course of merely five months during the pandemic. It’s the agency that was hacked back in 2015, resulting in the personal information of more than 700,000 taxpayers being compromised. It’s the agency that has been foolishly going after Americans who hold $10,000 or more in a foreign bank since 2010, never mind the fact that many of them are middle-class expats, not folks with yachts in the Mediterranean…

“Though some libertarians may argue such an agency ought not to exist in the first place and cheer its relative ineptitude at going after the well-to-do, it’s decidedly absurd that the agency taxpayers just fed $80 billion to has, for another year, continued its assault on the poor.”

God is not looking at such IRS conduct lightly.

Taxing the Rich?

On January 9, 2023, Ron Paul wrote in his weekly column:

“The final act of the Democrat majority on the House Ways and Means Committee was to make public several years of Donald Trump’s tax returns, which the Committee obtained after a prolonged legal battle. The tax returns confirmed that, despite being one of the richest people in America, Donald Trump paid very little in federal income tax. In fact, in at least one year he paid under a thousand dollars.

“Trump’s success in minimizing his tax liability without ever being audited is surprising only to those who think IRS audits are mainly used to catch rich ‘tax cheats.’ According to data released by the Syracuse University Transactional Records Clearinghouse, in 2022 lower-income taxpayers were five and half times more likely than millionaires and billionaires to be audited! This is because low-income taxpayers cannot afford to hire top-notch tax attorneys and accountants to help fight the IRS, so they are more likely to give in to the agency’s demands…

“Proponents of a flat tax or national sales tax argue that such a system would ensure millionaires and billionaires paid their ‘fair share’ of taxes. Saying we must all pay our ‘fair share’ of taxes assumes we have a moral obligation to the government that can only be fulfilled by turning over as much of our income as our so-called ‘public servants’ demand. This is not the case. Individuals have a moral duty to support their families, and to support private charities if they wish. They do not have a moral duty to support the government.

“Tax reform proponents also complain that the current tax code contains too many loopholes that cause economic distortions and inefficiencies. It is true that the current tax system promotes inefficiency, but this is caused by the income tax itself, not the loopholes. Conversely, loopholes actually promote economic efficiency by giving taxpayers the ability to spend more of their money the way they prefer, rather than allowing politicians to spend it. As economist Thomas DiLorenzo put it, ‘private individuals always spend their own money more efficiently than government bureaucrats do.’

“The major problem with the income tax, and the reason it must be eliminated, not merely ‘reformed,’ is that it is rooted in the idea that the government has first claim on our income…”

Jesus told us to pay our taxes… to give Caesar what is Caesar’s (Luke 20:22-25). But this does not mean, to give Caesar what he does not require. And it does by no means justify the king’s or the government’s abuse of tax money and spending it for ungodly purposes. Therefore, there is nothing wrong, biblically, with the idea of the government simply eliminating taxes, such as the income tax. Furthermore, Samuel described the king’s or the government’s practice of taxing people as a curse (compare 1 Samuel 8:15, 17-18, 7, 9). We also read that a king or a government which “imposes heavy taxes,” “ruins” the land (Proverbs 29:4, New American Bible).

Schiff’s Assault on the First Amendment

Breitbart added on January 6:

“Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) violated the First Amendment and, arguably, his oath to uphold the Constitution in 2020 when his office demanded that Twitter suspend the account of Paul Sperry, an investigative journalist.

“Sperry happens to be the journalist who reported in 2019 that the ‘whistleblower’ who worked with Schiff to engineer the impeachment investigation against President Donald Trump was Eric Ciamarella, a CIA analyst who had worked at the White House. Though Democrats convinced the media and Silicon Valley to suppress the story, Sperry’s reporting was never refuted…

“The attempt by any member of Congress to suppress the freedom of expression of a journalist is a flagrant violation of the First Amendment, which specifically restricts Congress from interfering in a free press. That violation is even more egregious when perpetrated by a congressional leader with unique access to secret information, and who implies that he has evidence no one else does and is acting to protect national security.

“Schiff… is a frequent guest on mainstream media news programs, who have given him wide latitude for years to promote unfounded claims, such as the ‘Russia collusion’ hoax.”

Journalist Paul Sperry Speaks Out

The New York Post published on January 6 the following article by Journalist Paul Sperry:

“Schiff, the powerful Democratic chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, made his ‘request’ to ban me through his staff in a November 2020 memo to Twitter. Three months later, in early February 2021, I was kicked off the platform.

“Why would a congressional leader sworn to protect the Constitution and First Amendment want to muzzle a veteran journalist? Like authoritarians everywhere, Schiff did not like critical reporting. The man who vowed to ‘protect our Democracy’ from Donald Trump wanted to censor a free press…

“In his list of demands, Schiff tried to justify banning me by claiming I was promoting ‘false QAnon conspiracies,’ which I have never done and I challenge Schiff to produce evidence to back up his defamatory remarks…

“After joining Twitter in June 2016, I tweeted more than 20,100 tweets and I amassed more than 340,000 followers — all without any problems, without any suspensions. Until Schiff exercised his vendetta against me.

“He appears to have secretly interfered with my ability to do my job for almost two years… If a powerful government official prevented me from promoting my stories, including my New York Post columns, on the nation’s digital town square, how is that not state censorship?”

In his article, Sperry also recounted several examples where Schiff publicly and apparently knowingly lied.

Biden’s Visit at the Border—Too Little, Too Late

The New York Post wrote on January 8:

“President Biden made his first trip to the beleaguered Mexican border since he took office two years ago — for a brief three hour visit. Biden… has been roundly criticized for his failure to control the number of migrants crossing the border into the US and for repealing a number of programs begun by former President Donald Trump that led to the escalation…

“Critics chided Biden for what they called little more than a photo-op at the overwhelmed border with Mexico, with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, one of the most vocal officials about a federal lapse in border protection, handing the president a scathing letter slamming his policies. ‘Your visit to our southern border with Mexico today is $20 billion too little and two years too late,’ Abbott wrote in the letter…

“There were more than 2.4 million migrants crossing the nearly 2,000-mile length of the southern border with Mexico in [the] fiscal year 2022.”

US Extends Air Travel COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for International Visitors

Fox Business reported on January 4:

“The U.S. government has quietly issued an extension to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for foreign travelers. The TSA issued the extension of vaccine mandates that will last until April 10, 2023.”

The Washington Times added on January 5:

“Critics of the rule say it is hampering tourism and that vaccination should be a personal choice, especially since the shots do not stop transmission of the virus outright.

“‘President Biden himself said the pandemic is over so the original justification for the mandate has lapsed. Pre-pandemic, international tourism generated close to $2 trillion in U.S. economic activity, so denying entry to unvaccinated foreign guests is denying us untold billions in revenue,’ Jenny Beth Martin, the honorary chairwoman of Tea Party Patriots Action, said in a midweek statement blasting the extension. ‘And last but not least, as a matter of principle, no one should be forced to take a vaccine against their will, whether they’re an American or a foreign guest.’”

None of this makes any sense, except that it deprives people of their individual freedom; prevents unnecessarily tourists from visiting the USA; and contributes to the destruction of the American economy.

WHO’s New “Recommendations”

The Daily Mail reported on January 10:

“American travelers should show a negative Covid test in order to enter European countries, the World Health Organization implied today… But she stopped short of recommending testing mandates ‘at this stage’, instead urging people on long-haul flights to wear face masks to curb the spread of Covid…

“But scientists are quick to point out that America’s wave is not growing as fast as feared and that there is no sign the strain is more likely to cause severe disease at present… in the European Union — which has twice as many people [as the USA] — cases are falling…”

As long as it stays with just a recommendation from the WHO, one couldn’t care less. But if becomes another requirement, then here we go again…

No More Vaccination Mandate for Troops?—Not So Fast!

The Associated Press reported on January 10:

“The Pentagon formally dropped its COVID-19 vaccination mandate Tuesday, but a new memo signed by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also gives commanders some discretion in how or whether to deploy troops who are not vaccinated.

“Austin’s memo has been widely anticipated ever since legislation signed into law on Dec. 23 gave him 30 days to rescind the mandate…

“Austin… added… that other department policies — including mandates for other vaccines — remain in place. That includes, he said, ‘the ability of commanders to consider, as appropriate, the individual immunization status of personnel in making deployment, assignment, and other operational decisions, including when vaccination is required for travel to, or entry into, a foreign nation.’”

Even though the law prohibits COVID vaccination mandates for the military, it is obvious, as can be seen from the above article, that the Biden Administration, being obsessed with vaccinations, will do everything they can to circumvent that law.

The Twitter Files: Disturbing Connection With Big Tech

The Daily Signal wrote on January 10:

“The latest installment of the ‘Twitter Files’ reveals a disturbing connection between Twitter and Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a Pfizer board member who used to head the U.S. Food and Drug Administration… Pfizer Inc. is one of the pharmaceutical companies that came up with three initial FDA-approved vaccines against the disease. Gottlieb joined the drugmaker’s board in June 2019, before the pandemic.

“The new information from inside Twitter shows how ‘elites’ such as Gottlieb with connections to large corporations and the government can twist and suppress what gets to the public, warping society’s ability to speak freely and find the truth.

“According to the ‘Twitter Files’ report released by former New York Times reporter—and vaccine sceptic—Alex Berenson, Gottlieb coordinated with the social media giant to suppress alternative policy recommendations for how to respond to COVID-19. Berenson was at one time banned by Twitter at the urging of the Biden administration, but the ban was lifted after he sued the company. He now is one of the relatively few journalists that new Twitter CEO Elon Musk trusts to disclose the social media company’s previous internal workings in a series of ‘Twitter Files’ reports…

“Twitter and Facebook also coordinated with [the] government as other ‘Twitter Files’ entries suggest… Facebook acted as if it were an arm of the Democratic Party and censored American citizens seeking the truth… YouTube censored Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., for questioning the effectiveness of cloth masks… The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention initially said masks don’t work,  then insisted they worked and you need to wear them, then finally admitted that cloth masks likely don’t offer any protection from COVID-19. Paul was right…

“The ‘Twitter Files,’ including the Gottlieb revelations, show how it was Big Tech companies, not the people, that caused ‘harm’ during the pandemic. They abused their position of power, thoughtlessly and perniciously silenced dissenters, and pulled Americans away from the process of discovering the truth…”

In light of this apparent suppression of the Truth in the USA, note the following appalling article about the situation in Germany.

German Government Denies Obvious Side Effects From CORONA Vaccination

Bild Online wrote on January 11:

“It starts with a tingling in your fingers. The hands swell, become bluish. Then a sharp pain shoots up both arms. Five days after his first corona vaccination, Nicolas S. (23) from Lichterfelde [in Germany] experienced this for the first time. Since then several times a day. Diagnosis: Suspected vaccination complication! But nobody helps him.

“Nicolas S. was successful in his job as a computer scientist and also had a small software company. ‘After the corona vaccination, my life was destroyed,’ he says. When asked by BILD, a spokeswoman for the State Office for Health and Social Affairs (Lageso) said: ‘The expert opinion comes to the conclusion that there is no causal connection between the vaccination and the symptoms in the case of an unclear clinical picture.’

“His employer recommended to him immunization in early summer of 2021 – because of the contact with customers. In a practice in Lichterfeld, Nicolas S. had the Biontech vaccine injected… A short time later, the first symptoms. ‘The pain was so present that I couldn’t concentrate on anything anymore,’ he says. Desperate, he went to an emergency room. Heart attack and stroke were ruled out.

“His vaccinator was at a loss, gave him the second dose. The symptoms worsened. Only during the ultrasound of the vessels… did the specialist note the suspicion: ‘non-specific vaccination side effects’…

“Meanwhile, Nicolas S. has been on sick leave for 78 weeks. His arms and hands feel ‘asleep’. The smallest movements trigger severe pain. He was fired from his job. He had to liquidate his company. At the beginning of 2022, he applied for recognition of vaccination damage and severe disability. No reaction!…

“Biontech also contradicts a connection with vaccination. ‘So far we have no evidence that the symptoms you mentioned are more common in vaccinated people.’

“Nationwide, the Paul-Ehrlich-Institute has so far recorded 50,145 serious suspected cases of corona vaccination complications, but in Berlin, the Lageso has only recognized twelve…

“Nicolas S. now lives on social benefits. He says: ‘The worst thing is that there is no contact person for those affected.'”

Protestors Storm Brazil’s National Congress

Deutsche Welle reported on January 8:

“Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stormed the National Congress building in Brasilia earlier on Sunday…

“Supporters of the former president refuse to accept that the populist autocrat lost his bid for reelection, claiming the election was stolen. Hardcore supporters have even openly called for a military coup in order to put him back in charge…”

The New York Post added on January 8:

“The… protests are reminiscent of the attack on the US Congress [on] January [6,] 2020, when supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol Building in Washington, DC…”

We will see whether the left-wing mass media will be blaming Trump for the events in Brazil. Of course, Trump claimed as well that the 2020 election was stolen. But this claim has been labeled in the USA as the “big lie” by the left-wing mass media, and woe unto those who even suggest that the election might have been stolen. They are facing censorship, ostracism and persecution… and that in a “democratic” country which supposedly protects the “right” of free speech.  

More Than Meets the Eye

Breitbart reported on January 9:

“Protesters opposing the inauguration of far-left convicted felon Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as the country’s president on January 1 stormed Brasília on Sunday, breaching police barricades to break into the Brazilian Congress and destroy its façade, as well as several critical meeting chambers. The mob also attacked the STF, the nation’s supreme court, reportedly leaving its headquarters unusable and damaging or stealing priceless historical artifacts. The protesters attempted to break into the Planalto Palace, the president’s headquarters, but caused more minimal damage there.

“Lula became president this month after a bitter presidential race [against] his predecessor, conservative former President Jair Bolsonaro, that he won by a razor-thin margin. Lula should have been disqualified from running for president again as a result of crimes he was convicted for during his past term in office, from 2003 to 2011. Lula was sentenced to nearly 25 years in prison for taking bribes while president, but the STF overturned the conviction on jurisdictional grounds in 2021, allowing his name to be on the ballot.

“STF Minister [justice] Alexandre de Moraes, who also ran the country’s top election court during the election, outlawed discussing Lula’s conviction or calling him a criminal in media communications while allowing Lula to spuriously call Bolsonaro a ‘pedophile.’ The STF’s handling of the election has prompted a movement of Bolsonaro supporters calling for the military to intervene and prevent Lula from taking office…

“Police have arrested over 300 people at press time for participating in the riot, according to O Globo. Reports indicate that most of those arrested will face charges such as acts of violence against the states and conspiracy, which may result in prison terms of up to 12 years.

“The bulk of arrests related to the riot that have occurred so far, however, were not of people directly participating in the event. In response to an order from de Moraes, the police dismantled a massive tent city of Bolsonaro supporters who had organized outside of the headquarters of the armed forces, asking the military to overthrow Lula. Police confirmed over 1,500 arrests as they dismantled the camp, most of those arrested going peacefully. The operation required 40 buses to transfer those detained to prisons.”

The highly controversial role of Brazil’s Supreme Court contributed to the uproar and tumult in the country.

Condemnation of Zelensky Government Over Freedom of the Press and Religion

Breitbart wrote on January 7:

“The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Europe’s largest journalist association, has expressed concern about a new Ukrainian law that could arbitrarily censor media in the country. EFJ president Ricardo Gutiérrez voiced his concerns over the new legislation passed by the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky late last month, which will give the government enormous power over media operating in the country…

“The new law has been framed by the Zelensky government in terms of stopping the spread of Russian propaganda, and will give greater power to the National Television and Radio Council, which is appointed by the Ukrainian parliament. Some news sites which do not register with the council may be shut down as a result of the new law.

“According to Gutiérrez, the council is completely controlled by President Zelensky. ‘We are surprised by the lack of reaction from Western countries. We don’t understand why they don’t tell Zelensky that this law doesn’t live up to our standards. I would say that it will be impossible for Ukraine to join the European Union with a law like this,’ he said.

“The EFJ has previously defended Danish journalist Matilde Kimer, who was excluded from reporting in Ukraine and had her press credentials revoked after being accused of being ‘pro-Russian’ by the Zelensky government. The ban came just months after Kimer had also been banned from Russia.

“The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine has also raised issues with the new media law, releasing a statement saying ‘[s]uch powers are clearly excessive,’ and adding: ‘No one has yet managed to tame freedom of speech in Ukraine. It won’t work this time either.’

“Combatting Russian influence and propaganda has been used as the reason for several moves by the Zelensky government that have been controversial, including the recent suppression of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Raids on Orthodox churches by the Ukrainians prompted condemnation from Russia, with former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev stating that ‘[t]he current Ukrainian authorities have openly become enemies of Christ and the Orthodox faith.’”

In times of war, these kinds of moves can be expected. The freedom of the press, the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion and of religious assembly will be constantly under attack.

The World Against the State of Israel

Israel Today wrote on January 4:

“Love him or hate him, agree with him or oppose him, Itamar Ben-Gvir has become a barometer for international attitudes regarding the prophetic restoration of Israel. The Bible is fairly clear that the physical rebirth of Israel that we’ve already witnessed was just an initial step… leading to a particular set of national actions that in turn lead to the nations of the world coming against the Jewish state… the UN is trying to tell the Jews that they may not do what the Lord God of Israel told them to do, which in this case is to ascend the Temple Mount in worship of Him.

“We are witnessing the nations of the world align themselves against the Almighty, though they fail to see it as such. And it’s only possible for them to do so in this way because of the rebirth of Israel as a nation, which has in turn enabled Jews like Itamar Ben-Gvir to again (after 2,000 years of exile) express their commitment to God and His Word in a sovereign and independent manner.”

U.N. Wastes Everybody’s Time

Fox News added on January 6:

“Israel’s ambassador to the U.N. lambasted the organization for calling a meeting to discuss an Israeli official’s visit to a Jerusalem holy site. ‘Minister Ben-Gvir’s recent visit to the Temple Mount was not an incursion into al-Aqsa or any other fabrication that the Palestinians branded his visit as,’ Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Gilad Erdan said during a blistering speech to the U.N. Security Council, Thursday…

“The status quo allows for Muslims alone to worship at the site, where the Al-Aqsa mosque stands. Ben Gvir’s supporters insist that the minister never stepped on the actual believed location of the Holy of Holies and never prayed, therefore avoiding any violations…

“‘When this council dedicates its valuable time to “shows about nothing,” it legitimizes the poisonous lies of the Palestinians, and as a result, empowers terrorists to continue in their murderous ways,’ Erdan said. ‘While the Temple Mount is sadly not yet a house of prayer for all nations, it is still the right of every Jew… to at least… visit this holiest of holy spots.’”

The U.N.’s Hatred for Israel

Israel 365 News added on January 6:

“A report by UN Watch revealed that in 2022, the United Nations General Assembly approved 15 anti-Israel resolutions as compared to 13 against all other countries combined. Russia, which invaded Ukraine amid accusations of human rights violations, garnered six condemnations. North Korea, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Syria, Iran and the US were hit with one resolution each.

“Saudi Arabia, China, Lebanon, Turkey, Venezuela and Qatar, which have poor human rights records or were involved in regional conflicts, were not dinged by any resolutions criticizing them.

“Since 2015, the General Assembly has adopted 140 resolutions against Israel. In the same period of time, the UN passed 68 resolutions against all other countries combined…

“From 2006 through 2022, the UN Human Rights Council has adopted 99 resolutions against Israel, 41 against Syria, 13 against Iran, 4 against Russia, and 3 against Venezuela…

“In 2022, EU member states voted for one resolution each to criticize Iran, Syria, North Korea, Myanmar, the U.S. for its embargo on Cuba, and six resolutions on Russia’s war in Ukraine. By contrast, EU states voted for about 10 resolutions on Israel. These same EU states failed to introduce a single UNGA resolution this year on the human rights situation in China, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Turkey, Pakistan, Vietnam, Algeria, or 175 other countries.”

These statistics speak for themselves and show the blatant bias and Antisemitism of the world towards Israel.

Israel and USA on Collision Course

The Times of Israel wrote on January 7:

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government is little more than a week old but it’s already giving the Biden administration headaches…

“The new government is an unwelcome complication for a Biden national security team seeking to shift attention away from the Middle East and toward rivals like China and Russia. It also comes as Republicans take control of the House of Representatives and are eager to cast Biden as unfriendly to Israel ahead of the 2024 presidential election…

“… while Biden and Netanyahu have known each other for years, they are not close. Biden and former Obama administration officials who now work for Biden still harbor resentment toward the prime minister who, during his previous iteration as Israel’s leader, sought to derail their signature foreign policy achievement: the Iran nuclear deal.

“… on Friday, Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet approved a series of punitive steps against the Palestinian leadership in retaliation for the Palestinians pushing the UN’s highest judicial body to give an opinion on the Israeli occupation of the West Bank… The Security Cabinet decided to withhold millions of dollars from the Palestinian Authority and transfer those funds to a compensation program for the families of Israeli victims of Palestinian terror attacks. And, it will deny benefits, including travel permits, to Palestinian officials who ‘are leading the political and legal war against Israel.’

“Meanwhile, Biden’s administration is moving in a diametrically opposed direction. Since taking office, the administration has reversed the Trump ban on aid and provided more than $800 million in economic, development, security, and other assistance to the Palestinians and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

“… exactly one week before Netanyahu took office in late December, the State Department imposed but immediately waived terrorism sanctions against the Palestinian leadership, saying engagement with the Palestinians is a critical US national security interest.

“On December 22, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman notified Congress that she had imposed travel bans on senior leaders of the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization because they ‘are not in compliance’ with requirements to tamp down and publicly condemn terrorist attacks against Israelis. But, in the same notification, the State Department said Sherman had waived the travel bans ‘based on her determination that such a waiver is in the national security interests of the United States.’”

What a circus!

USA vs. Catholic Rome?

LifeSiteNews wrote on January 6:

“… the idea the U.S. government could be involved in a plot to undermine the Catholic Church is not without precedent, as emails released by Wikileaks in 2016 showed how John Podesta, chairman of Hilary Clinton’s presidential campaign, exchanged ideas with Obama-linked non-profit executive Sandy Newman about how to foment ‘revolution’ in the Church.”

Worldwide “Unnatural” Deaths in 2022

The Christian Post wrote on January 6:

“Statistics reveal that abortion was the leading cause of death worldwide for the fourth year in a row, as the number of abortions nearly quadrupled the number of deaths from infectious diseases in 2022.

“Worldometer, a database that keeps track of statistics about health, the global population and other metrics in real-time, continuously compiles information about the number of abortions worldwide. The last available snapshot of the Worldometer from 2022, captured on Dec. 31 by the internet archiving tool The Wayback Machine, shows that more than 44 million abortions took place last year.

“While Worldometer cites a fact sheet from the World Health Organization as the source for its abortion statistics, the WHO maintains that ‘around 73 million induced abortions take place worldwide each year.’ The global organization characterizes abortion as an essential health service.

“The second leading cause of death in 2022, as identified by the Worldometer, was communicable diseases, causing nearly 13 million casualties. The deaths attributed to infectious diseases, as well as the more than 8 million deaths caused by cancer, the approximately 5 million fatalities triggered by smoking, the roughly 2.5 million alcohol-related deaths and the nearly 2 million deaths caused by AIDS this year combined add up to less than the number of lives lost to abortion in 2022.

“Additional leading causes of death identified by the Worldometer include road traffic accident fatalities, which claimed more than 1 million lives last year, and suicides, numbering slightly more than 1 million. Over 800,000 people lost their lives due to water-related diseases last year, half a million people died because of the seasonal flu, nearly 400,000 people died of malaria and around 300,000 women died during childbirth.

“Deaths caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which have become the subject of much media attention, were measured at 1,209,570 in a separate set of [statistics] compiled by Worldometer…

“… the number of worldwide deaths in 2022… [exceeded] 100 million. The total world population at the end of 2022 came in at slightly above 8 billion.”

The list above does not even include the many hundreds of thousands of people who died in war in 2022.

 Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.