On August 31, 2024, Kalon Mitchell will present “Choose the Path,” and Norbert Link will present the sermon, titled, “Godlessness and Perversion in Our End-Time Society!”

The live services are available, over video and audio, at http://eternalgod.org/live-services/ (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time; 8:30 pm Greenwich Mean Time; 9:30 pm Central European Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

Words can be powerful; they express emotions and even evoke memories so deep that we are brought to tears. They convey our intentions with one another and really are a gift from God when used properly. Words also give us a mechanism to seek, understand and communicate with Him.

There is another side to our use of words. Of course, we can use words to wound and harm. The bullying that has sadly become more prevalent with the age of social media is an example of the misuse of words and language. We’ve also become accustomed to the use of words and phrases that hold little meaning. The example I want to focus on for this editorial is the phrase: “I’ll try.” We’ve all used this a time or two in our lives and likely meant well. I’ve read a perspective on this from a business strategist. His take on the phrase “I’ll try,” is that one is conveying an attempt to do something, yet, also hedging one’s bets, or leaving ourselves a convenient escape valve. The idea is that the person is signaling that perhaps they will not be successful or will fail if they try. As though constructing a safety net in advance will inoculate the person from criticism and failure.

In 2017, an American free climber, Alex Honnold, made history and redefined what athleticism means by climbing El Capitan in Yosemite National Park without the use of ropes or equipment. In preparing for this, Mr. Honnold had completed many other challenging climbs. In reading his comments about the climbs, I noticed he never used the phrase, “I’ll try to do this.” He simply prepared to do it, and then went forward. Had he failed in his bid to ascend El Capitan, he still would have won in so many respects. He did not pave the way with the cushion of potential failure.

The word “try” is used 134 times in the Bible and in relation to humans, it may convey what a person will attempt to do, such as one trying to till the land. When it relates to God and His promise for those He calls and who obey, He is always clear. He does not attempt to do something; He commits to it. He implores His people to “try” Him or test Him and He promises to be constant.

In Numbers 14:22-23, we read: “Because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.” Other translations will use the words try me, rather than test, but the point is made; God requires no equivocation, and no cushion. He sets His hand to something, and He does it. He wants His followers to live with the same commitment in our relationship with Him, and in these verses, He is citing His displeasure with His people for their disobedience.

In Psalm 139:23, we see David imploring God to try him, to search him and know him: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxieties.” This is unnecessary as God knows all about each of us; He knows our shortcomings and our strengths. Still, David is correct in wanting God to know him and throughout this chapter, he is stating his intention of remaining close to God.

Perhaps a more accurate word choice for true Christians in our calling to follow God is that we endeavour (or endeavor) to follow Him. According to Vocabulary.com, The Middle English root of the word “endeavour means to put oneself in or do one’s utmost, so if you endeavour to do something, you do it with earnestness and significant effort.” The U.S. Space Agency—NASA, named one of its space shuttles built in 1987 “Endeavour.” NASA was honoring the HMS Endeavour, the first ship used by the British explorer Captain James Cook. Back in the days of sailing vessels such as the Endeavour, one did not try to make the journey—they truly endeavored to do so. It was life or death and rarely in between. Ironically, it may have been riskier to set sail around the cape of Africa than to sit atop over 3 million pounds of fuel to lift Endeavour into orbit 400 miles above the earth.

In our calling we also must endeavour to obey—that means putting our hearts and minds fully into our commitment. Romans 12:11 illustrates this well: “Not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.” Fervent in spirit means we are fully committed in our pursuit of God’s Kingdom. We must never justify our failure to obey with a cushion of weakness.

There is a good modern example of this inherent weakness in a photo of the actor Chris Pratt as he portrayed a lazy fellow in a popular sitcom. The photo includes his comment: “I’ll Try; Don’t Expect Much.” This is truly a statement on society. Don’t count on me to show up for work, to do what I say, and to stand up for God. Contrast this with God’s promise for us as he urges us to try Him and see the result. We see this in Malachi 3:10: “‘Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.” For our faith, obedience and trust in God, He will bestow such blessings on His people such that it will overwhelm us. God never backs away from us, He does not need an excuse, and He is the foundation of our lives—now and forever.

In 1 Peter 1:15, we read the admonition for us to endeavour to be as constant in our faith as God is with us: “But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.”

Think about how we wish others to view us; not as one who shifts with the winds, but as a strong, reliable person. First, we must strive for this standard in our relationship with God—to be consistent in our obedience to Him.

by Norbert Link

We begin with many examples of hypocritical conduct of America’s politicians (please view our new message, “Hypocrisy—Comments on News and Prophecy, August 24, 2024”); speak on Robert Kennedy’s new role and Joe Biden’s impeachable offenses and the fraudulent misrepresentation of job growth in the USA; and continue with the question of the responsibility of parents for the criminal conduct of their children and the terrible curse of abortion.

We report on further attempts of the EU to suppress free speech, by arresting the CEO of Telegram [please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Europe’s Persecution of Telegram, Rumble and X (Musk)”; and we update you on the murderous terrorist attack in Solingen, West Germany, which was allegedly perpetrated by a Syrian “refugee” and “soldier” of IS.

Throughout this section, we have underlined pertinent statements in the quoted articles, for the convenience and quick overview of the reader.

Kamala Harris’s Clueless Hypocrisy

The New York Post wrote on August 23:

“Will the real Kamala Harris please stand up?… Harris finally took the floor to speak of herself Thursday night.  She spoke well and forcefully and electrified the Chicago convention hall, but color me as confused as ever.  Other than not being Donald Trump or Joe Biden, who is she? What does she really believe and what would she do as president? If she knows the answers, she’s keeping them a secret.

“Promises to ‘chart a new path forward’ and ‘be a president for all Americans’ are so boilerplate, they ought to be outlawed. Then there was this: ‘The future is always worth fighting for..’ You don’t say! 

“The economy is the top issue for voters, and as vice president for the last three and a half years, you would think she would have nailed down some ideas that could improve upon the mess she and President Biden made. 

In which case, you would be mistaken…

“Her 37-minute speech capped a remarkable shift in Democratic fortunes, made possible only by the political assassination of Biden, ostensibly by his friends.  Et tu, Barack Obama? Et tu, Nancy Pelosi?…

“… the entire Democratic convention has been a disappointment in that it relied on lies about Trump to attack him. Starting with Biden Monday and ending with Harris Thursday, many speakers accused Trump of planning to sign a national ban on abortion and of supporting an arch-conservative program called Project 2025. The problem with those accusations is that Trump has said repeatedly that he will not sign a national abortion ban and has made it clear he wants all states to include exceptions in cases of rape, incest and the health of the mother. He also publicly scorned Project 2025, saying he did not support it…

“The touting of his conviction in the rigged Manhattan bookkeeping trial further betrays their desperation… Harris…  cited the case as a reason why Trump can’t be trusted. Oddly, she didn’t seem to mind working with Biden despite his family’s influence-peddling scheme, which netted it some $27 million. Or that Hunter Biden is an accused tax cheat and has already been convicted of a gun felony…”

This and the following are typical cases of hypocrisy by politicians. A true Christian ought not to have anything to do with this. Note the next article.

More and More Hypocrisy!

The New York Post wrote on August 22:

“We will not soon forget the way in which [Nancy Pelosi] said that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had ‘established one of the most successful presidencies of modern times.’… But the standout moment was her tribute to Biden. Only a few weeks ago, Pelosi went to see him and brutally ended his career, reportedly telling him he must either stop his run or get pushed out ‘the hard way.’… Her performance was second to none as she paid tribute to the man whose career she so recently ended… And during Biden’s own performance, she could be seen enthusiastically waving a ‘We love Joe’ sign. It takes an actor of once-in-a-generation skill to do what Nancy did…

“Who could fail to be impressed when [Hillary Clinton] held a smile even as she said that Kamala should be the first woman to make it to the Oval Office? Some viewers may have gotten the feeling that Hillary was about to…  burst out screaming, ‘It should have been mine’ at any moment. But she didn’t. She kept herself measured and turned in a performance of rare, multi-layered complexity, underscored by a raw, sublimated rage…

“Bill Clinton compared Joe Biden to George Washington and said that, like Washington, Biden had exited the stage at a time of his own choosing. Historians are still looking for the Chuck Schumer, Barack Obama and George Clooney characters of 1797.

“Leading a prayer onstage, [Cardinal Blasé Cupich] praised the idea of Americans being united by ‘profound aspirations of life.’  The cardinal had clearly not toured the abortion… trucks that were doing big business outside the convention….

Oprah Winfrey [will be remembered] not least for her inspiring claim that she understood — because she had suffered from — ‘income inequality…

“Joe Biden… managed a whole speech, whipped himself up into a rage over things that nobody said and wiped a tear from his face as he accepted the gratitude of a party that wanted him gone…

“The Democrats have managed to create a whole new candidate. Not the Kamala we thought we knew. But a new, special Kamala whom we apparently don’t know at all. A Kamala who is hyper-competent, super-inspiring and a fresh face in politics…”

But there are many more examples of hypocrisy. Note the next articles.

The Daily Mail wrote on August 22:

“Tim Walz is everything Kamala Harris needs him to be: steady Midwesterner, brave veteran, working-class hero, bumbling… dad — and, oh yes, a compulsive liar!… Whether Coach Walz is spinning a yarn about using ‘weapons of war’ during his pretend time in combat, or concocting a tale about his long-suffering wife Gwen’s ‘IVF’ treatment that didn’t actually happen, [he] is willing to spend credibility for the cause….”

The Guardian wrote on November 11, 2016, about Michelle Obama’s decision not to run:

“… she feels politics is very dirty and she doesn’t want to be in the gutter.”

Now she asked everyone to vote for Kamala, even though she initially refused to endorse her.

Breitbart wrote on July 21:

“[Barack] Obama and Pelosi stand out among Democrat leaders for not [initially] specifically endorsing Harris…”

The New York Post wrote on July 22:

“After Democratic bigs knifed Joe Biden in the back, wresting the candidacy from his stubborn, locked grip, they rushed to valorize him with effusive praise and glowing political obituaries. They’ve called him a ‘patriot’ and a ‘hero’... the trinity of Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer…. especially with the backing of the big-money donor class and Hollywood hotshots… in a calculated campaign to remove the president, threatened him with the 25th Amendment in a ‘palace coup’…”

The New York Post wrote on July 24:

“[Barack] Obama’s hope was to get Biden out of the way, and an op-ed written by George Clooney in the New York Times asking him to step aside was a part of that plan. However, the higher-ups in the Democratic Party didn’t count on Biden endorsing Harris right away and ‘Obama was shocked’ when the president endorsed her… Obama is ‘furious’ that things haven’t gone his way, ‘which is why he is not joining in the Democratic Party’s support of Harris…”

Later Barack and Michelle endorsed Harris in their infamous staged phony phone call with Kamala.

Biden’s Impeachable Offenses

The New York Post wrote on August 21:

“It’s infuriating that House Republicans waited so long to release their devastating report that President Biden committed impeachable offenses when he ‘actively participated’ in a foreign influence-peddling conspiracy to enrich his family and then defrauded American voters by ­lying about his abuse of office.  Even more infuriating is that Biden will not be held accountable by Congress for his malfeasance.  It’s hard to find a clearer-cut case for impeachment than selling access to the White House to foreigners, including the Chinese Communist Party, for tens of millions of dollars. 

“The report… is believed to have been ready for release back in April, when Democrats were still pretending that Biden was a viable candidate for re-election. But fears that as many as 10… House Republicans would refuse to impeach the president led to the report being shelved until this week…

“But while Biden will not get the impeachment he deserves, the report’s meticulous array of evidence stands forever in the official record. It laughs in the face of all the nauseating eulogies for Biden this week at the Democratic National Convention as the greatest president of all time, a man of integrity and honor so great, he deserves to be memorialized on Mount Rushmore….

“But the same people who turned a blind eye and covered up Biden’s corruption are the ones who covered up his cognitive incapacity and who now are trying to smuggle mirage candidate Harris into power without real scrutiny or policies or accountability for her role in the Biden administration’s disasters…”

Trump on Kennedy

The New York Post wrote on August 22:

“The 45th president has said he would be open to a Kennedy endorsement and would even consider adding him to his team. ‘I like him a lot, I respect him a lot, I probably would if something like that would happen,’ Trump told CNN in an interview on Tuesday about the possibility of adding Kennedy to his administration.”

The Sun wrote on August 24:

“Hours after Kennedy Jr. announced that he would suspend his campaign for president, he made a surprise appearance at Trump’s rally in a show of support…. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever introduced anyone who’s gotten applause like he just did,’ Trump said of Kennedy’s entrance. Trump called Kennedy his friend and said he ran ‘an extraordinary campaign’ for the last 16 months… he is a brilliant, phenomenal person… I’m proud of Bobby if you want to know the truth…”

On April 28, 2024, The Telegraph wrote:

“Trump described Mr Kennedy as ‘a Radical Left Liberal who’s been put in place to help Crooked Joe Biden, the Worst President in the History of the United States, get Re-Elected.’… He said Mr Kennedy ‘was far more LIBERAL than anyone running as a Democrat… Juniors’ a so-called Independent, but he’s not, he’s a Radical Left Lunatic … No Republican can vote for this guy.’”

A lesson that one ought to carefully choose one’s words. Note the next article as well.

Kennedy Attacked Trump

CNN wrote on August 26:

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr… has a long history of criticizing the man he now supports, including calling Trump a ‘threat to democracy,’ and, as recently as July, a ‘terrible president.’ For years, Kennedy has repeatedly condemned Trump, referring to him as a ‘bully,’ who appealed to ‘bigotry,’ ‘hatred,’ ‘xenophobia’ and ‘prejudice.’ Among the chief attacks Kennedy has leveled at Trump through the 2024 campaign is to accuse him of corruption for turning his administration over to corporate lobbyists and special interests and failing to ‘drain the swamp’ as he’d promised.

“But on Friday, Kennedy was full of praise for Trump, saying that while he and the former president ‘don’t agree on everything,’ they do share similar isolationist views on US foreign policy, government censorship, and the need to address chronic disease in America…”

Vance on Trump:

Bild Online wrote on July 28:

“[In 2016, Vance said : ‘He is simply a bad man. A morally reprehensible person.’

The Guardian wrote on July 27:

“Vance… was selected because he faithfully reflected the ideological gut instincts of Trump, despite having previously called him ‘America’s Hitler’”

Of course, he totally changed his opinion on Trump. Right?

Kennedy’s New Role

When announcing that he would suspend his candidacy, Kennedy said this, according to the Daily Mail, dated August 24:

“He [said that] the Democrats ‘ran a sham primary that was rigged to prevent any serious challenge to President Biden.’  Once Biden, he said, ‘predictably bungled’ the debate against Trump, a ‘palace coup’ took place. ‘The same shadowy DNC operatives appointed his successor, also without an election,’ Kennedy charged.  ‘They installed a candidate who was so unpopular with voters that she dropped out in 2020 without winning a single delegate,’ Kennedy said….

The article also said this:

“Kennedy’s siblings – who support Harris – released a joint statement slamming their brother’s decision.  ‘Our brother Bobby’s decision to endorse Trump today is a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear,’ said Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Courtney Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Chris Kennedy and Rory Kennedy. A number of other Kennedy family members work in the current Biden administration.”

What were the values of John and Robert Kennedy which Trump is now ‘betraying”?

The Sun wrote on August 24:

“The Republican nominee [Trump] also pledged that he would create a panel to look into the causes of childhood health issues including auto-immune disorders, autism, obesity, infertility, and more. Trump said that ‘top experts would work with Bobby’ on this panel. The former president said he wanted to ‘salute’ Kennedy Jr.’s ‘decades of work as an advocate for the health of our families and children.’… ‘Nobody has done more,” Trump said of Kennedy Jr.’s philanthropy work and activism. ‘Millions and millions of Americans have concerns about toxins in our environment and pesticides in our food,’ Trump said in his announcement of the health panel….

“During his time on stage, Kennedy Jr. took aim at the CDC, the FDA, the USDA, big food processing companies, and chemical companies. ‘Our children are the unhealthiest, sickest children in the world,’ Kennedy Jr. claimed.’ Don’t you want healthy children? Don’t you want a safe environment for your children? Don’t you want to know the food that you’re feeding them is not filled with chemicals that will give them cancer and chronic diseases? Don’t you want a president that will make America healthy again? Well, that is what President Trump told me he wanted,’ Kennedy Jr. said.”

The New York Post added on August 24:

“Kennedy also touted Trump’s vows to keep the US out of foreign wars, end censorship  and protect ‘America’s freedoms’ from ‘totalitarianism.’”

All laudable goals. Would they be accomplished under a Trump presidency?

Biden Administration Fraudulently Manipulating Job Growth Statistics

Newsmax wrote on August 21:

“Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused the Biden administration of ‘fraudulently manipulating’ statistics after the government announced revised job growth numbers for this year showing lower growth than previously reported. The Labor Department released a revised report this week showing that the U.S. added 818,000 fewer jobs between April 2023 and March 2024 than originally stated in a previous report. The initial report showed the U.S. added an average of 242,000 jobs per month during that time, but the revised figures show the U.S. added 174,000 jobs per month.

“… Trump called the revelation a ‘MASSIVE SCANDAL!’… Trump added: ‘The Harris-Biden Administration has been caught fraudulently manipulating Job Statistics to hide the true extent of the Economic Ruin they have inflicted upon America. New Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the Administration PADDED THE NUMBERS with an extra 818,000 Jobs that DO NOT EXIST, AND NEVER DID. The real Numbers are much worse than that…’”

This IS scandalous… but to be expected from lying politicians.

Zuckerberg Confirms Improper Conduct of Biden Administration

The Wall Street Journal wrote on August 27, 2024:

“Zuckerberg said it was improper for the Biden administration to have pressured Facebook to censor content in 2021 related to the coronavirus pandemic, vowing that the social-media giant would reject any such future efforts… In a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan… he wrote that senior Biden administration officials, including from the White House, had ‘repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire, and expressed a lot of frustration with our teams when we didn’t agree.’ At the time, Facebook’s publicly stated goal was to push millions of people toward Covid 19 vaccines…

“Zuckerberg said that he believed the pressure from the administration ‘was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it… we’re ready to push back if something like this happens again.’

“… In his letter to Jordan, Zuckerberg said that Meta [which owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and others] ‘shouldn’t have demoted’ a New York Post story about President Biden’s son Hunter Biden ahead of the 2020 election… At the time, dozens of former intelligence officials signed a letter that then-candidate Biden cited in a presidential debate saying that the release of the emails had ‘all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation’… ‘It’s since been made clear that the reporting was not Russian disinformation, and in retrospect, we shouldn’t have demoted the story,’ Zuckerberg wrote. In a social-media post, Jordan said that the letter was a ‘big win for free speech.’”

Parents Responsible and Not Responsible For Mass Killings of Their Children

Newsmax wrote on August 19:

“The parents of a former student accused of killing 10 people in a 2018 school shooting near Houston cannot be held responsible for what happened, a jury decided Monday. The victims’ lawsuit sought to hold Dimitrios Pagourtzis and his parents, Antonios Pagourtzis and Rose Marie Kosmetatos, financially liable for the shooting at Santa Fe High School on May 18, 2018. The lawsuit alleged the parents failed to provide necessary support for their son’s mental health and didn’t do enough to prevent him from accessing their guns. Authorities say Pagourtzis fatally shot eight students and two teachers. He was 17 years old at the time.

“Pagourtzis, now 23, has been charged with capital murder but the criminal case has been on hold since November 2019, when he was declared incompetent to stand trial. He is being held at a state mental health facility. In April, Jennifer and James Crumbley were sentenced to at least 10 years in prison by a Michigan judge after becoming the first parents convicted in a U.S. mass school shooting. Pagourtzis’ parents are not accused of any crime…

“Similar lawsuits have been filed following other mass shootings. In 2022, a jury awarded over $200 million to the mother of one of four people killed in a shooting at a Waffle House in Nashville, Tennessee. The lawsuit was filed against the shooter and his father, who was accused of returning a rifle to his son before the shooting despite the son’s mental health issues.”

Many Children Survive Abortions… Before They Die!

eSiteNews wrote on August 23:

“In Canada, not a single federal leader will discuss abortion – except to affirm their support for feticide in all its forms. Thus, there has been no response to a gut-wrenching new study by medical statisticians at the University of Montreal that found that one in four babies aborted at 23 weeks gestation in Quebec are born alive. One of the ‘complications’ of later-term abortions is known as ‘live birth,’ and ‘live birth rates’ after abortion have increased in Quebec, most noticeably in abortions between 20 and 24 weeks…

“The study found that 90% of these babies died within three hours, and… ‘only 24.5 percent of the babies born alive were admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) while only 5.5% received palliative care.’

“The authors noted a strange trend, reporting that the likelihood of a baby surviving an abortion actually increased between 1989-2000, when it was 4.1%, and 2011-2021, when it was 20.8%…”

This is SO horrible. What a heartless civilization we live in, condoning, supporting and promoting such barbarous and ungodly conduct!

Telegram CEO Arrested in France

Breitbart wrote on August 24:

“Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov (39) was arrested in France on Saturday after his private jet landed at Le Bourget Airport, French media reported. Durov was arrested under a warrant related to ‘various violations of his encrypted messaging service,’ according to a report by Le Monde… French authorities are accusing Durov of a ‘lack of moderation’ involving Telegram. The messaging app is reportedly under attack in Europe for the ‘viral circulation of false information.’ ‘Telegram has shielded itself from state moderation rules, at a time when the European Union and the United States are putting pressure on major platforms to remove illegal content,’ Le Monde reported. France’s OFMIN (Office to Combat Violence Against Minors) issued the warrant as part of an investigation into ‘offenses ranging from fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organized crime, glorification of terrorism, and fraud,’ a source told the French newspaper.

“Durov, who doesn’t often sit down for interviews, spoke with Tucker Carlson in April, telling the former Fox News host that the Russian government was the first entity to demand that he censor speech — via his other platform, VK — in an effort to quell protests in the country. ‘We were requested to ban these [protest organizing] communities — and I refused,’ Durov explained. ‘But that did not go too well with the government.’ ‘A few years from then, in 2013, we had a similar situation where you had these protests in Ukraine where people, again, would use VK to organize themselves and go to the main square of the city and show their disagreement with the government,’ Durov continued. ‘We received a demand from the Russian side, saying, “You have to give us the private data of the organizers of this protest,” and our response was, ‘Wait, a minute, this is a different country, we won’t betray our Ukrainian users because you asked us to.” We decided to refuse, and that didn’t go too well with the Russian government as well,’ he added. As a result, Durov chose to resign as the CEO of VK.

“‘I had to make a difficult decision,’ he said. ‘Because I was offered basically a choice between two suboptimal options: one of which was I would start complying with whatever the leaders of the countries tell me to do, and the other one was I could sell my stake in the company, retire, resign as the CEO, and leave the country. I chose the latter.’

“Carlson reacted to Durov’s arrest in a Saturday X post, writing, ‘In the end, it wasn’t Putin who arrested him for allowing the public to exercise free speech. It was a western country, a Biden administration ally and enthusiastic NATO member, that locked him away.’ ‘Pavel Durov sits in a French jail tonight, a living warning to any platform owner who refuses to censor the truth at the behest of governments and intel agencies,’ Carlson added. ‘Darkness is descending fast on the formerly free world.’”

Indeed, darkness is descending on Europe. Of course, Europe was never really free, but now it is clearly being held captive by Satan the devil.

Europe’s Persecution of Freedom of Speech Continues…

Reuters wrote on August 25:

“The arrest of the 39-year-old technology billionaire prompted on Sunday a warning from Moscow to Paris that he should be accorded his rights and criticism from X owner Elon Musk who said that free speech in Europe was under attack… [Hypocritical Russia is making these demands!!!] Durov, who has dual French and United Arab Emirates citizenship, was arrested as part of a preliminary police investigation into allegedly allowing a wide range of crimes due to a lack of moderators on Telegram and a lack of cooperation with police, a… French police source said.

“Russian lawmaker Maria Butina, who spent 15 months in U.S. prison for acting as an unregistered Russian agent, said Durov ‘is a political prisoner – a victim of a witch-hunt by the West.’…

“Telegram, based in Dubai, was founded by Durov, who left Russia in 2014 after he refused to comply with demands to shut down opposition communities on his VK social media platform, which he has sold. The encrypted application, with close to one billion users, is particularly influential in Russia, Ukraine and the republics of the former Soviet Union. It is ranked as one of the major social media platforms after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and WeChat.

“Durov, who is estimated by Forbes to have a fortune of $15.5 billion, said in April some governments had sought to pressure him but the app should remain a ‘neutral platform’ and not a ‘player in geopolitics’. Durov came up with the idea of an encrypted messaging app as a way to communicate while he faced pressure in Russia. His younger brother, Nikolai, designed the encryption…

“After Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Telegram has become the main source of unfiltered – and sometimes graphic and misleading – content from both sides about the war and the politics surrounding the conflict. The platform has become what some analysts call ‘a virtual battlefield’ for the war, used heavily by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his officials, as well as the Russian government.

“Russia began blocking Telegram in 2018 after the app refused to comply with a court order granting state security services access to its users’ encrypted messages… Telegram says it ‘is committed to protecting user privacy and human rights such as freedom of speech and assembly.’

“Durov has previously accused U.S. law enforcement agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of seeking to get a backdoor into the platform...

“Musk, billionaire owner of X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, said after reports of Durov’s detention: ‘It’s 2030 in Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme.’”

Please view our recent StandingWatch program, titled, “Europe Attacks America’s Freedom!” 

Europe’s Increasing Persecution of Dissidents

Austria’s Report 24 wrote on August 26:

“While Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France, Rumble boss Chris Pavlovski departed Europe… Elon Musk could be next on the list. In the new age of censorship and surveillance, there is no place for privacy and freedom of expression.

“Europe is returning to dangerous ways of thinking. In the past, countless people from the Old Continent fled across the Atlantic to the New World to be safe from religious or political persecution. In the meantime, European politicians present themselves as ‘democratic’ and ‘liberal’, but as a result of the leftward shift in the political party system, they seem to prefer to rely again on repression against those who think differently, and on total surveillance.

“Pavel Durov… was targeted… because he stood up against the total surveillance by authorities and secret services on his platform and protected freedom of expression. But there is no room for that in Europe for censoring and control-hungry politicians…

“Chris Pavlovski, the CEO of the video streaming platform Rumble, which presents itself as a free alternative to Google’s heavily censorious YouTube, explained on X that he had just left Europe ‘for good reason’. His platform was also threatened by France because they did not censor free speech there.

“All of this raises the question of when the French and European authorities will also want to take appropriate measures against Elon Musk. After all, the tech billionaire is also an advocate for the greatest possible freedom of the press and freedom of expression. However, this is something that no longer has a place in Europe. A woke, left-liberal and green-minded totalitarianism will prevail there in the future.”

Arrest of Durov Alarming!

The New York Post wrote on August 27:

“Americans should be worried… French investigators were quick to assure the public that this was most certainly not a political detention, which means it most certainly was… Durov is a seasoned veteran in the fight to protect free speech and association.

“Elon Musk has dealt with similar threats by foreign entities demanding he crack down on his platform, or else. We can expect that European-style censorship will find a welcoming audience in the DC swamp…  the major social media platforms do remain magnets for the worst of the worst elements; possibly criminals, terrorists, and traffickers. But criminals plan and commit crimes using the telephone, too, and governments around the world aren’t locking up the phone companies.

“The message of Durov’s detention is simple — hand over the data of the private citizenry, monitor and police their free speech, or face political persecution… We cannot allow our long-standing freedom of speech and assembly to become subject to European laws or lawmakers. And certainly not to the whims of globalists at the United Nations or in Davos. Durov is a walking target for refusing to capitulate to the surveillance state…”

The Associated Press wrote on August 28:

“In 2022, Germany issued fines of $5 million against Telegram’s operators for failing to establish a lawful way to reporting illegal content or to name an entity in Germany to receive official communication. Both are required under German laws that regulate large online platforms.”

Business Insider wrote on August 26:

“Musk described the arrest as a violation of freedom of expression. ‘It is essential to supporting free speech that you forward X posts to people you know, especially in countries where censorship exists,’ Musk wrote on X on Sunday. He also posted a tweet from Chris Pavlovski, the CEO of Rumble, a right-wing competitor to YouTube. Pavlovski said in a post on Sunday that France had ‘crossed a red line’ with the arrest of Durov.”

The Guardian wrote on August 25:

“Elon Musk reposted a clip from that interview with Tucker Carlson where Durov praised Musk’s takeover of X as ‘a great development’… He followed up with a second tweet: ‘Liberté! Liberté! Liberté?’

“According to Fox News, dated August 26 , the arrest prompted ‘swift outcry from free speech advocates, including fellow tech billionaire and X owner Elon Musk, and former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr..”

Macron responds, according to Al Jazeera, dated August 25:

“Macron insisted that there was no political motive [that it was not a political decision], and that Durov had been detained as part of a judicial inquiry. ‘I have seen false information regarding France following the arrest of Pavel Durov. France is deeply committed to freedom of expression and communication, to innovation, and to the spirit of entrepreneurship. It will remain so,’ Macron said in a post on X.”

France Persecutes Rumble—”Macron Is Lying”!

Nius wrote on August 28:

“It’s a worrying development: in the UK people have to worry about being visited by the police for sharing posts on ‘X’, in Germany citizens who criticize the government are being sued and in France the founder of the messenger service Telegram has now been arrested. The reason: He would not take sufficient action against criminal activities on his platform.

“Now the next shock for freedom of expression: The CEO of the Canadian video platform ‘Rumble’, Chris Pavlovski, decided to leave Europe in the wake of Durov’s arrest. On ‘X’ he writes: ‘France has already threatened Rumble, now they have crossed the red line by arresting Telegram’s CEO. Rumble will not tolerate this behavior and will fight by every legal means for freedom of expression, which is a universal human right. We are currently fighting in court in France and hope for Pavel Durov’s early release.’

“Pavlovski’s video portal, an alternative to YouTube, was banned in France in 2022 and is still in legal battle with the country over its refusal to remove blocked Russian accounts. In another post on ‘X’, the Rumble CEO accuses French President Emmanuel Macron of lying. ‘We had to shut down Rumble in France because you show no commitment to freedom of expression’. He is responding to the president’s statement that Durov’s arrest was legal and that France is deeply committed to freedom of expression.

“’Rumble’ has been working with Donald Trump’s ‘Truth Social’ social network since 2021. The current [proposed] Vice President J.D. Vance has already invested in the video platform.”

The Associated Press wrote on August 28:

“French authorities handed Telegram CEO Pavel Durov [six] preliminary charges Wednesday for allowing alleged criminal activity on his messaging app, and barred him from leaving France pending further investigation.”

But he has avoided jail with a 5m euro bail. He must check in at a police station twice a week.

Terror Attack in Solingen, Germany

Daily Mail wrote on August 24:

“A knifeman has left at least three people dead after stabbing random passersby in the neck in a horrific ‘terror attack’ at a diversity festival in Germany.  Eight others have been injured, five of them seriously, in the knife attack in the western German city of Solingen last night, police have said.  A desperate manhunt has been launched to find the killer who fled after carrying out the ‘brutal and senseless’ killings…

“Solingen is also known as the ‘City of Blades’, as it has long been renowned for the manufacturing of fine swords, knives, scissors and razors made by famous firms.  The tragedy comes amid a heated political debate about rising knife violence in German cities… The ‘Festival of Diversity,’ marking the city’s 650th anniversary, began on Friday and was supposed to run through Sunday, with 80,000 people expected.”

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 24:

“The man suspected of the stabbing in Solingen turned himself in to the police, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry of North Rhine-Westphalia told the news agency DPA. According to the German daily Bild, the man, still covered in blood, approached the officers shortly after 11 p.m. (2100 GMT) and said: ‘I’m the one you’re looking for…’  He had reportedly been hiding in a backyard since the crime.

“German news magazine Spiegel reported that the suspect is a 26-year-old Syrian, who came to Germany in 2022 and applied for asylum in Bielefeld.  Because he came from a country in civil war, he was allowed to stay in Germany… The so-called ‘Islamic State’ has claimed responsibility… In a statement on social media, IS’ Amaq media wing said the knifeman was a ‘soldier of the Islamic State’ who targeted a ‘Christian gathering’ in what it said was ‘revenge for Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.’”

Breitbart wrote on August 24:

“It was claimed that, according to witness statements gathered by police, the attacker had shouted out the Jihadi war cry ‘Allahu Akbar’ as he carried out the attack…”

Reuters added on August 24:

“The episode comes ahead of three state elections next month in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg, in which the anti-immigrant far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has a chance of winning… a top AfD candidate for one of the state elections, Bjoern Hoecke, [posted] on X: ‘Do you really want to get used to this? Free yourselves and end this insanity of forced multiculturalism.’”

Bild reported on August 25 that an arrest warrant was issued for him because of alleged murder and membership in a terrorist organization (IS), and that the investigation is now in the hands of the federal prosecutor.

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.

In the previous installments of this new series, we have pointed out that at the time of the final revival of the ancient Roman Empire in Europe, God’s Church will be busy, with renewed strength, to fulfill its end-time commission to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God in all the world as a witness, prior to Christ’s return. As the European power will only survive for a short time, so the preaching of the gospel will likewise be short-lived.

We showed that both the last revival of the Roman Empire [through the raising up of the ancient Chaldeans, and their subsequent defeat] and the preaching of the gospel are described as the Work of God. We then concentrated on God’s Work, as it relates to the preaching of the gospel.

In this installment, we will discuss that God’s end-time Church has been given the Work of warning the nations, which is actually part of the proclamation of the gospel message.

We read in Amos 3:4-9, 13-14:

“Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing? Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no trap for it? Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all? If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it? Surely the LORD God does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The LORD God has spoken! Who can but prophesy? Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod, And in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say: ‘Assemble on the mountains of Samaria; See great tumults in her midst, And the oppressed within her… Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,’ Says the LORD God, the God of hosts, ‘That in the day I punish Israel for their transgressions, I will also visit destruction on the altars of Bethel; And the horns of the altar shall be cut off And fall to the ground….’”

Notice carefully! God is telling us that He will reveal to His servants what is going to happen, and they must prophesy or proclaim what they hear. This does not mean that God must tell them directly, face to face, what they must speak; rather, He HAS already told us, in the pages of the Bible, what will happen. The above-cited Scripture speaks, in context, of calamity which God will bring on the House of Jacob or Israel. It will be His Work! As this is an end-time prophecy, God’s Church is to proclaim and warn the nations of Israel, in hopes that some will repent and change their ways, so that they could be spared.

We read a timeless prophecy in Psalm 64:9:

“All men shall fear, And shall declare the work of God; For they shall wisely consider His doing.”

Ultimately, all will declare the Work of God, but today, it is basically only those in the Body of Christ who understand and wisely consider His doing and, with the fear of God, proclaim and warn about what He will soon accomplish.

Psalm 73:28 is even more encompassing, stating:

“But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the LORD God, That I may declare all Your works.”

ALL of God’s works include, of course, the warning message to the nations that God’s wrath will be upon them soon, but also, that Christ will return soon to end the madness of man’s incompetent rule.

We find another Scripture in the Bible about God’s commission to His end-time Church to proclaim and prophesy about God’s Work of punishing all nations—in this case, modern Babylon:

Jeremiah 51:1-11 tells us this:

“Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, Against those who dwell in Leb Kamai, A destroying wind. And I will send winnowers to Babylon, Who shall winnow her and empty her land. For in the day of doom They shall be against her all around. Against her let the archer bend his bow, And lift himself up against her in his armor. Do not spare her young men; Utterly destroy all her army. Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, And those thrust through in her streets. For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, By his God, the LORD of hosts, Though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.’“Flee from the midst of Babylon, And every one save his life! Do not be cut off in her iniquity, For this is the time of the LORD’S vengeance; He shall recompense her. Babylon was a golden cup in the LORD’S hand, That made all the earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; Therefore the nations are deranged. Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed. Wail for her! Take balm for her pain; Perhaps she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, But she is not healed. Forsake her, and let us go everyone to his own country; For her judgment reaches to heaven and is lifted up to the skies. The LORD has revealed our righteousness. Come and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God. Make the arrows bright! Gather the shields! The LORD has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. For His plan is against Babylon to destroy it, Because it is the vengeance of the LORD, The vengeance for His temple.”

This passage describes the Work of God—His punishment of modern Babylon through the modern Medes—which must be proclaimed by His Church “in Zion”—that means, it must also be proclaimed IN the Church of God. It includes the warning message to come out of or flee from Babylon (compare Revelation 18:4)—not having anything to do with its evil conduct, culture and philosophies, in order to save our physical and—even more importantly—our spiritual lives.

We have read in prior installments that God will do His Work by reviving the modern Chaldeans—Babylon—to punish Israel.

In Habakkuk 3:2-9, God is asked to revive and make known His Work in the midst of the years:

“O LORD, I have heard your speech and was afraid; O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years! In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy. God came from Teman, The Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, And the earth was full of His praise. His brightness was like the light; He had rays flashing from His hand, And there His power was hidden. Before Him went pestilence, And fever followed at His feet. He stood and measured the earth; He looked and startled the nations. And the everlasting mountains were scattered, The perpetual hills bowed. His ways are everlasting.”

We see here that the context is His return and the last plagues poured out on mankind. Just prior to that, He is asked to revive His Work of raising the Chaldeans and of having His Church preach the gospel and warn the nations. In the midst of the years could refer to the 3 ½ years of the Great Tribulation which will precede the Day of the Lord and the Coming of Christ. Then the proclamation will become really powerful, but it must occur earlier, BEFORE the houses of Israel and Judah will be destroyed at the very beginning of the Great Tribulation—in fact, their destruction sets in motion the Great Tribulation.

We saw earlier, in Amos 3, that proclaiming the warning message has been associated with blowing a trumpet—the trumpet of war. The following Scriptures tell us more about the duty and commission of God’s Church to blow the trumpet of warning.

We read in Jeremiah 4:5-8, 11-16 about the coming destruction of the modern Houses of Israel and Judah through the modern King of Assyria—the beast; and we read about the commission to “blow the trumpet” of warning:

“‘Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: “Blow the trumpet in the land”; Cry, “Gather together,” And say, “Assemble yourselves, And let us go into the fortified cities.” Set up the standard toward Zion. Take refuge! Do not delay! For I will bring disaster from the north, And great destruction.’ The lion has come up from his thicket, And the destroyer of nations is on his way. He has gone forth from his place To make your land desolate. Your cities will be laid waste, Without inhabitant. For this, clothe yourself with sackcloth, Lament and wail. For the fierce anger of the LORD Has not turned back from us…

“At that time it will be said To this people and to Jerusalem, ‘A dry wind of the desolate heights blows in the wilderness Toward the daughter of My people– Not to fan or to cleanse–A wind too strong for these will come for Me; Now I will also speak judgment against them.’ Behold, he shall come up like clouds, And his chariots like a whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are plundered!’ O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, That you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you? For a voice declares from Dan And proclaims affliction from Mount Ephraim: ‘Make mention to the nations, Yes, proclaim against Jerusalem, That watchers come from a far country And raise their voice against the cities of Judah.’”

We will address those watchers later.

Now notice Isaiah 58:1:

“Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, And the house of Jacob their sins.”

Hosea 8:1 adds:  “Set the trumpet to your mouth! He shall come like an eagle against the house of the LORD, Because they have transgressed My covenant And rebelled against My law.”

Joel 2:1-3, 10-15 points out:

“Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the LORD is coming, For it is at hand: A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, The like of whom has never been; Nor will there ever be any such after them, Even for many successive generations. A fire devours before them, And behind them a flame burns; The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, And behind them a desolate wilderness; Surely nothing shall escape them… 

“The earth quakes before them, The heavens tremble; The sun and moon grow dark, And the stars diminish their brightness. The LORD gives voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One who executes His word. For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; Who can endure it? ‘Now, therefore,’ says the LORD, ‘Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.’ So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him– A grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God… Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly…”

God’s Church needs to blow the trumpet in Zion which includes the Church itself. When we read that the LORD says to return to Him, He speaks through His Church.

But the warning message is not only directed towards the Houses of Israel and Judah. The trumpet must also be blown to warn modern Babylon, as God has decreed to carry out His Work against them:

Jeremiah 51:27-29 says:

“Set up a banner in the land, Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations against her, Call the kingdoms together against her: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a general against her; Cause the horses to come up like the bristling locusts. Prepare against her the nations, With the kings of the Medes, Its governors and all its rulers, All the land of his dominion. And the land will tremble and sorrow; For every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, To make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant.”

We read in Joel 2 that God executes His Word, and we read above that God’s purpose against Babylon shall be fulfilled. This is another way of saying that His Work will be accomplished and that we must proclaim it by blowing the trumpet. We are also reminded of the fact that the warning message must be clear—the blowing of the trumpet must be accurate, bold and convincing. We read in 1 Corinthians 14:8: “For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare himself for battle?”

Jeremiah 6:1, 9, 17 adds another important aspect when describing the duty of His Church to warn the nations:

“O you children of Benjamin, Gather yourselves to flee from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, And set up a signal-fire in Beth Haccerem; For disaster appears out of the north, And great destruction… To whom shall I speak and give warning, That they may hear? Indeed their ear is uncircumcised, And they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of the LORD is a reproach to them; They have no delight in it… Also, I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not listen.’”

We read earlier, in Jeremiah 4, that watchers from a far country will come and raise their voice against the cities of Judah. Here we are introduced again to God’s watchmen who blow the trumpet and encourage the people to listen to it.  

Even though most will not listen and heed the warning of the watchmen, God’s Church must still fulfill its commission to warn them—as a witness or testimony against them. Those who are entrusted with proclaiming the warning message are called “watchmen.” They are to carefully watch world events and proclaim the impending dangers which can clearly be seen by those who take note with understanding and comprehension of the signs of the times.

Ezekiel 33: 7-12 elaborates on this.

“So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: ‘Thus you say, “If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we pine away in them, how can we then live?”’ Say to them: “As I live,” says the LORD God, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?”’

“Therefore you, O son of man, say to the children of your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall because of it in the day that he turns from his wickedness; nor shall the righteous be able to live because of his righteousness in the day that he sins.’”

We can clearly see that it is the solemn duty of the “watchmen”—God’s Church in these last days—to warn the people, including the House of Israel, of their sinful ways and implore them to change so that they won’t die. Once the warning message has been proclaimed, the responsibility is with the hearers to heed.

The role of the watchman is not limited to just warning the Houses of Israel and Judah. We read in Isaiah 21:6, 8-10:

“For thus has the LORD said to me: ‘Go, set a watchman, Let him declare what he sees.’ Then he cried, ‘A lion, my Lord! I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime; I have sat at my post every night. And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen!’ Then he answered and said, ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen! And all the carved images of her gods He has broken to the ground.’ Oh, my threshing and the grain of my floor! That which I have heard from the LORD of hosts, The God of Israel, I have declared to you.”

The watchman declares what he sees and comprehends. Habakkuk 2:1-3 adds:

“I will stand my watch [Revised English Bible: “at my post”] And set myself on the rampart, And watch to see what He will say to me, And what I will answer when I am corrected [or: “and what He will answer concerning my complaint”]. Then the LORD answered me and said: ‘Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.”

The watchman is even to plead with God to bring back His Son very soon who will then rule from Jerusalem, and in the process, to prepare the people for Christ’s Second Coming. We read in Isaiah 62:6-7, 10:

“I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent, And give Him no rest till He establishes And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Go through, Go through the gates! Prepare the way for the people; Build up, Build up the highway! Take out the stones, Lift up a banner for the peoples!”

This reminds us of Christ telling us to pray daily to the Father: “Your Kingdom Come!”

In the next installment, we will talk about the connection between aspects of the Work of God and our salvation.

(To be continued)

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

compiled by Dave Harris

“Europe’s Persecution of Telegram, Rumble and X (Musk)” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is the summary:

Europe continues with its political goal and efforts to suppress free speech. Now, Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov has been arrested and has been charged in France with criminal conduct “for a lack of moderation and a lack of cooperation with police.” Others who are being targeted include X’s CEO Elon Musk and Rumble’s CEO Chris Pavlovski. Is Europe becoming an autocratic and totalitarian dictatorship?

“Europas Verfolgung von Telegram, Rumble und X (Musk),” is the title of a new AufPostenStehen program, presented by Norbert Link. This German program covers the same topics as described above.

It is with profound sadness that we announce the death of Margaret Adair on Friday, August 23, 2024. Margaret suffered a fatal heart attack. Arrangements are being made to transfer Margaret’s body to Ireland, where she will be buried next to her husband, Colin. A memorial service will also be held in the future in the San Diego area.

“Der kommende Weltuntergang,” is the title of this Sabbath’s new German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “The Coming End of the World.”

“Unser Kreuz, das wir tragen müssen,” last Sabbath’s sermonette presented by Jens Herrmann is now posted. Title in English: “Our Cross that We Must Bear.”

“Warum Ignoranz so gefährlich ist!” last Sabbath’s sermon presented by Thilo Hanstein, is now posted. Title in English: “Why Ignorance Is so Dangerous!”

“Hypocrisy—Comments on News and Prophecy, August 24, 2024,” last Sabbath’s first message, presented by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is the summary:

This program discusses many incidents of hypocrisy of American politicians, by just basically quoting from pertinent articles published by the media. Especially one article by the New York Post is somewhat satirical and could be seen as humorous, if the events had not been so terribly tragic and horrific.

“A Daily Diet of Truth,” last Sabbath’s sermon presented by Brian Gale, is now posted. Here is the summary:

Most of us watch the daily news on television, hear it on the radio, read it in newspapers and other publications, or more likely for the younger generation, on social media. But that is not where we learn about the Way of Life to which we have been called. In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 we read that where our focus should be for our daily diet of truth: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

On August 24, 2024, Norbert Link will present, “Comments on News and Prophecy–August 24, 2024,” and Brian Gale will present the sermon, titled, “A Daily Diet of Truth.”

The live services are available, over video and audio, at http://eternalgod.org/live-services/ (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time; 8:30 pm Greenwich Mean Time; 9:30 pm Central European Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

I heard a quote recently that got me thinking about how we as Christians are to be thinking differently. The quote was from C.S. Lewis’s book, “God in the Dock”:

“If you think of this world as a place intended simply for our happiness, you find it quite intolerable: think of it as a place of training and correction and it’s not so bad. Imagine a set of people all living in the same building. Half of them think it is a hotel, the other half think it is a prison. Those who think it is a hotel might regard it as quite intolerable and those who thought it was a prison might decide that it was really surprisingly comfortable. So that what seems the ugly doctrine is one that comforts and strengthens you in the end. The people who try to hold an optimistic view of this world would become pessimists: the people who hold a pretty stern view of it become optimistic.”

We know, of course, that this is a terrible world, and no “optimistic” viewpoint will make it better. On the other hand, our viewpoint must be very optimistic when focusing on the world to come—when Christ will rule this earth.

Truly everything in this life is based on how we view things—as C.S. Lewis stated above. Our mindsets cannot be just for the sake of chasing happiness or trying to live our best lives. Our lives are for the training to become more and more like Jesus Christ. The very fact that we are called Christians should be an indication for us that we are to become more and more like Him in terms of how we think, how we act and how we go about our day-to-day activities.

We have the stories in the Bible of people who went through tough hard times. The stories about Daniel and his three friends tell us about their true reliance on God. This didn’t just come on the spur of the moment. This needed to have been built in them over a period of time. They trained their minds, they built their relationship and reliance on God up to the point where they were able to go through the trials they went through and make it through BECAUSE of God’s providence and strength.

I have often thought about how we are told that our mindset is to be constantly changing. We find this in Ephesians 4:23 (AMP Bible) telling us that we must “be continually renewed in the spirit of [our] mind [having a fresh, untarnished mental and spiritual attitude].” To properly do this, it requires constant vigilance and a desire to grow close to God and Christ – in order to think like them; in order to be in sync with them.

It requires us to lean towards putting on Christ. This is iterated over and over again in the New Testament (Romans 13:14, Ephesians 4, Colossians 3). This time we have now is truly for our training. I think that we are beginning to see that people are facing greater and harder trials for the sake of growing closer to God. We must each come to the point where we are willing to surrender everything over to God and learn to follow His lead. This can either come from us actively seeking this OR it can come from God having to step in and start directing our lives so that we learn to turn to Him.

With this being the case – we must be aware that this is one of the prime areas where Satan will attempt to attack us over and over again. He will not stop trying to remove our attention from the process of renewal and attempt to get us to stay distracted and overwhelmed with every-day matters.

The option and the choice is ours. 2 Corinthians 3:18 states that God’s Spirit in us should be helping us to be transformed day by day: “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Again, in order to accomplish this, we MUST be doing this daily. We must be spending time in God’s Word (His POWER) so we can be led.

In Romans 8:6, we read: “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”  The ONLY way to be spiritually minded is to be putting on Christ. This Truth is powerful if we put it into practice.

If we need inspiration – we can get it by turning to God and daily doing what David showed us as he lived his life.

In Psalms 119:146-148, he says: “I cry out to You; Save me, and I will keep Your testimonies. I rise before the dawning of the morning, And cry for help; I hope in Your word.  My eyes are awake through the night watches, That I may meditate on Your word.”

by Norbert Link

We begin with a new report in the “Wall Street Journal” about the attack on the Nord Stream Pipelines, with Ukraine being seen as the perpetrator; continue with Germany’s announcement to freeze the delivery of new weapons for Ukraine; speak on Russia’s renewed threats to use nuclear weapons against major cities in the UK and the USA; Iran’s closure of German institutions and Germany’s plans to deploy troops in Lithuania; and we speak on “the EU’s plot to silence Elon Musk.” Please view in this context our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Europe Attacks America’s Freedom!” We also report on Facebook’s attempts to censor Dennis Quaid and his new movie, called “Reagan.”

We focus on Robert F. Kennedy Jr and his outspoken comments regarding Kamala Harris and the “modern unrecognizable” Democratic Party; address the ongoing deceitful manipulations and the hypocrisy of the Democrats; the finding that Joe Biden engaged in impeachable conduct; the despicable behavior of Planned Parenthood; and some dangerous comments by J.D. Vance. We discuss the world’s attacks on Israel, while an article explains that there is NO status quo on the Temple Mount.

We conclude with “new findings” regarding the Shroud of Turin; reports on big earthquakes in Russia and Japan and some interesting “bombshell” discoveries about a huge asteroid allegedly responsible for having killed the dinosaurs. 

Throughout this section, we have underlined pertinent statements in the quoted articles, for the convenience and quick overview of the reader.

The Attack on the Nord Stream Pipeline

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 16:

“The attack on the Nord Stream Pipeline was shocking, the damage enormous, and the geopolitical consequences are still keenly felt almost two years after the attack. The 1,200-kilometer (746-mile) Nord Stream 1 served as the key delivery system between Russian energy giants and their buyers in Germany,  with Berlin braving the ire of its allies to construct another undersea delivery system,  Nord Stream 2, which would run mostly parallel to the first one and carry another 55 billion cubic meters (1.942 trillion cubic feet) of gas per year.

“It was not to be. A series of underwater blasts on September 26, 2022 crippled the pipelines, which were already out of action due to tensions between Berlin and Moscow provoked by Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine. Nearly two years later, no suspects have been arrested, and it is not fully clear who was behind the sabotage.

“This week, however, a series of reports in high-profile German media, including Süddeutsche Zeitung, and the US-based Wall Street Journal pointed to a team of Ukraine divers who may have had backing from top officials in Kyiv. Sources cited by the Wall Street Journal say the plan to blow up the pipelines was initially approved by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Then, the CIA allegedly got wind of the plan and urged Zelenskyy not to go through with it. Zelenskyy ordered a halt to the scheme, but Ukraine’s top general at the time, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, decided to go through with it anyway, according to the paper.

“Zaluzhnyi, now Ukraine’s ambassador to London, denied any knowledge of the bombing and dismissed the claims to the opposite as ‘mere provocation’ when contacted by the US daily. The White House has refused to comment on the report…  ‘Ukraine’s involvement in the Nord Stream explosions is absolute nonsense. There was no practical sense in such actions for Ukraine,’ Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak told AFP on Thursday… Despite Podolyak’s claims, however, Ukraine did have valid reasons to oppose the project. If reactivated, the pipelines would have been filling Moscow’s war chests… Additionally, a direct line of export to Germany via both pipelines would have made it much easier for Moscow to close off established gas routes through countries like Ukraine, Poland and Slovakia, giving it even more influence in the region…

“Poland is also mentioned in the media as the possible provider of logistical support for the Ukrainian diving team which is said to have sabotaged the pipelines. German officials have confirmed that the main suspect was living in a village outside Warsaw until recently, but managed to slip out of the country despite Germany issuing an arrest warrant for him. Warsaw blamed Berlin for the mishap, saying German officials failed to update the Schengen register that would flag the suspect as wanted.

“On Friday, Poland  strongly denied claims made by the former boss of Germany’s BND intelligence agency August Hanning that Warsaw ‘was heavily involved in the preparation of this attack.’ ‘It has to be said clearly that this is a lie,’ Polish deputy prime minister , Krzysztof Gawkowski, told TV channel Polsat News. ‘Poland did not take part in anything…’

“Russian officials have long blamed the West for the Nord Stream blast, most notably accusing  ‘British navy specialists’ in 2022 of participating in ‘planning, provision and implementation’ of the attack. Following a report on the alleged US involvement by investigative reporter Seymour Hersh in February 2023, Moscow said it was not surprised. ‘Our assumption was that the US and several NATO allies were involved in this disgusting crime,’ Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters in Moscow at the time.

“The latest narrative of the CIA attempting to avert the plot seems to have done little to persuade Moscow, even with top Kremlin officials staying silent on the subject. On Friday, Russia’s ambassador to Washington, Anataly Antonov, said there was no way for Kyiv to attack the pipelines without getting a ‘wink’ from the US. ‘They seek to shift all responsibility to their Ukrainian puppets,’ Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov said in a statement on Nord Stream…  Antonov also pointed to US President Joe Biden’s statement from February 2022, just ahead of the full-scale war. The US leader said Washington would ‘bring an end’ to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline if Russia invades, even with Germany controlling the project. ‘I promise you, we’ll be able to do it,’ Biden said at the press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

“Antonov’s stance was echoed by Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who commented that the West was trying ‘to absolve itself of responsibility for the terrorist attack.’

“Berlin has been notably restrained in its comments regarding the ongoing investigation into the blasts, which sabotaged a critical investment worth billions that took over a decade to build. Earlier this week, Germany insisted its help to Ukraine was ‘completely independent’ from the probe and its ties to Kyiv are unaffected…”

While German politicians may say it differently, more and more Germans are opposed to assisting Ukraine much further. 

The Blame Game

The Guardian added on August 16:

“Initially, many assumed Russia was to blame. Later, others suggested the CIA could have been involved. Last year, the New York Times reported that US officials had seen intelligence suggesting a ‘pro-Ukrainian group’ was behind the explosions, while last month, Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, called the explosions ‘an act of terrorism carried out at the obvious direction of the Americans’… Ukraine has always denied involvement in the explosion and on Thursday a spokesperson for Zelenskiy again accused Russia of carrying out the sabotage…

“However, German police and prosecutors are reportedly pressing on with an investigation that is now homing in on senior Ukrainian military officials and could prove embarrassing for Berlin, given that it involves an ally launching an act of sabotage against key infrastructure… Roderich Kiesewetter, a member of the opposition CDU who serves on the foreign affairs committee of the German parliament, urged caution about the allegations raised in the WSJ report. He told German radio there were ‘intensive interests’ in ‘letting all the clues lead back to Ukraine’, warning that this could be ‘part of the disinformation’.”

EuroNews wrote on August 15:

“The operation was concocted during a drunken night in May 2022, as Ukrainian military officers celebrated halting Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country and were looking to deal another blow to Moscow, the newspaper (WSJ) said, citing four anonymous sources familiar with the plan… The outlet said it had spoken to four senior Ukrainian defence and security officials who either participated in or had direct knowledge of the plot and that all of them considered the pipelines as a legitimate target as it defended itself against Russia…

“The WSJ also said that portions of the sources’ accounts had been corroborated by a German investigation into the matter. Yet, German intelligence officials have said that they doubt that Ukraine was really behind the sabotage…”

What Else Did WSJ Correspondent Say?

According to an article by the Wall Street Journal of August 15, WSJ correspondent Bojan Pancevski said the following:

“I’ve been, as you know, on the story since literally day one after it happened, and now we have an answer to who did it. It was a small group of patriotic Ukrainians. The idea was dreamt up during a drunken night, sometime early May in Kyiv. Some of them were military officers. Businessmen helped fund the project, which was executed under the command of the Ukrainian military. They decided to use a very unusual method of blowing up the single biggest offshore pipeline system in the world, which NordStream was. They used six people, five men, one woman on a small leisure boat, and they loaded it with explosives and off they went. The operation worked like this. It’s a small boat, a 50 feet yacht called Andromeda, and there were at least four skilled divers on it. They worked in pairs. Two divers would go at a depth of some 80 meters each day, and then the other two the next day. What they did is they loaded these explosive packages into their bags and then they went down all the way and they attached them to the pipeline and they attached a timer to ignite the explosive when the time came. So it was a timed bomb. You have to understand all the expert divers we’ve spoken said this was extremely dangerous, obviously, for everyone involved… 

“What happened was the Dutch Military Intelligence Service got wind of the operation already in the early stages of its planning. So sometime by June, 2022, so a month into the planning, the Dutch warned the CIA. Upon receiving that report, the CIA warned the Presidential administration of Ukraine not to do it, and President Zelenskyy told his commanding general, General Zaluzhnyi, to knock it off. What happened was that Zaluzhnyi just didn’t do anything. The operation went ahead as planned. It was operating like a startup company essentially. It was insulated from the officialdom, and in a nutshell, it was [a] very quick small operation on a shoestring. The whole thing cost around $300,000 to destroy a pipeline, which cost 23 billion to build…. 

“Every single Ukrainian I spoke to, and in fact some people in the West said this was a legitimate target. Why? Because it was 90% owned by Russia and because it generated enormous revenues for Vladimir Putin’s war machine. So from a Ukrainian perspective, they were cutting the vital revenue to the aggressor state that was invading them at that time. Prosecutors in Germany obviously take another stand. They think this was an attack on their critical infrastructure, which deprived them of vital gas supplies at a time where there was an energy crisis. What the Germans have so far is some evidence on the actual sabotage crew that was on the boat, but they have nothing on the higher-up command chain.”

Pancevski also said that the idea that Russia was behind the sabotage was “complete nonsense.” The truthfulness of the German government’s claim that the latest discoveries will not negatively influence Germany’s commitment towards Ukraine may be very doubtful. Note the next article. 

Germany Freezes Weapons for Ukraine

Express wrote on August 17:

“Germany has stunned Ukraine after announcing a freeze to military aid, as Kyiv’s forces struggle to repel a Russian advance in the Donbas. Olaf Scholz’s government claims a budgetary crisis means it can no longer afford to supply Ukraine with new weapons. However, opponents have accused the German Chancellor of ‘hypocrisy’ and of making a cynical play to win votes in federal elections this autumn. Scholz reportedly told his Defence Minister Boris Pistorius that no more money for weapons would be forthcoming earlier this month… Pistorius had drawn up a wish list for €4billion (£3.4billion) in additional military supplies to Ukraine…

“The freeze in military aid will not affect outstanding orders but has already impacted new ones. After a Russian air strike on a Kyiv children’s hospital in July, Diehl Defence, the arms manufacturer, offered to supply an IRIS-T air defence system to help defend the Ukrainian capital’s airspace. Scholz, however, reportedly refused to pay for the missile system, despite the deal being backed by his Defence Minister.

“The move is said to have caused severe friction inside the German government, with both the defence and foreign ministries opposing the freeze. The news could not come at a worse time for Kyiv’s army, which is coming under severe pressure in the Donbas, where Russian troops are advancing on the city of Pokrovsk – a strategic road and rail hub. Ukraine’s army says it is running short of critical ammunition and spare parts for its German-supplied tanks and armoured vehicles.

“Scholz’s political opponents have accused him of trying to win over voters in Germany’s eastern states, who are opposed to the war in Ukraine… Ingo Gädechens, an MP for the centre-Right Christian Democrats, said that Scholz had engaged in an ‘unprecedented spectacle of hypocrisy’ by promising Kyiv unconditional support while trying to pose as a ‘peace chancellor’ at home.”

Breitbart added on August 17:

“With Germany representing Ukraine’s largest single financier in Europe, the cessation of further aid payments could represent a significant hurdle for Kyiv to continue the war against the much larger and richer Russia… Berlin is reportedly banking on future aid to Ukraine coming from the $300 billion pot of Russian central bank assets seized by Western allies in the aftermath of the 2022 invasion. While the G-7 nations agreed at their Italian summit in June to use the interest on the assets to help finance a $50 billion loan for Kyiv, there has been no formal agreement on whether the assets themselves or the income generated from interest could be sent directly to Ukraine to prop up the war effort.

“Indeed, the Green Party’s chairman in the Bundestag parliament’s budget committee said that currently ‘there is unfortunately nothing concrete on the use of Russian assets.’ The deputy budget spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, Andreas Schwarz, added that it is unknown how soon Russian assets could be diverted to Ukraine or ‘whether this is legally possible at all.’

“The spending freeze will likely further exacerbate ongoing issues with the lack of support from Germany. FAZ [Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung] reported that due to a lack of spare parts and ammunition, some German guns already supplied to Ukraine can only fire three to four rounds per day, undercutting the usefulness of fast-firing guns such as the Panzerhaubitze 2000. The paper also reports that many working German Leopard 1A5 main battle tanks are being ‘cannibalised’ by the Ukrainians in order to keep others going due to a lack of spare parts supplied by Berlin.”

Zelenskyy Calls Out US, UK, France Over Slow Weapons Deliveries

Politico wrote on August 19:

“As Ukraine gains territory inside Russia but is pushed back in its own Donetsk region, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy heaped pressure on his Western allies for more help. ‘Our guys are doing great on all fronts. However, there is a need for faster delivery of supplies from our partners,’ Zelenskyy said… ‘ Decisions are needed, as are timely logistics for the announced aid packages. I especially address this to the United States, the United Kingdom and France,’ he added.

“Ukraine has been struggling to fend off Russia’s assault in the east, hence the calls for accelerated weapons deliveries. Russia is rapidly advancing near Pokrovsk, Toretsk and Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region. Russian forces almost seized Krasnohorivka and occupied New York, a town in the Donetsk region, a Ukrainian army brigade said… ‘The enemy is spreading across the region. The rate of advancement is very high. And, unfortunately, now his offensive potential here is limited not by the strength of our resistance, but rather by his reserves,’ the brigade said…

“Ukraine is finding more success across the border on Russian soil, where it caught the Kremlin’s forces on the hop nearly two weeks ago now.”

Russia to Strike New York and London With Nuclear Weapons?

Newsweek wrote on August 19:

“Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Russian pundit Stanislav Krapivnik recently said Moscow is ‘already at war with’ the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), adding that it should retaliate by striking cities like New York and London with a nuclear weapon.

“Krapivnik, a Russian-American and former U.S. Army officer who defected to Russia in the ’90s, repeatedly referred to the U.S. as the enemy of Russia, accusing it of wanting ‘to destroy the Russian people’ during an appearance on a Russian media program hosted by Roman Guz…  in which he repeatedly dehumanized Americans and said, ‘These are not people, these are animals.’ … ‘If we want to end this war, we need to completely destroy Ukraine’s Armed Forces. Not defeat, but total destruction. Not taking them prisoner. There should be corpses, mountains of corpses!’ Krapivnik said during his interview.

“On August 6, Ukrainian forces launched a surprise attack on Russia’s Kursk region, successfully pressing into the Kursk and Belgorod area over the past two weeks, marking the largest assault on Russian soil since World War II. The area is home to the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), which is a major electricity producer for Russia. On Saturday,  [the] Russian foreign ministry… accused Ukrainian forces of preparing to attack the facility. 

“Ukrainian officials denied the accusation to Reuters, dismissing it as ‘insane’ propaganda. However, Krapivnik reiterated that idea and said, ‘This is an attack with nuclear materials, trying to cause a nuclear explosion of the reactor on the territory of Russia.’ He added that ‘this is a direct provocation that warrants wiping Kyiv off the face of the Earth… This is open war, and in response, an American city will be wiped off the face of the Earth or there will be a strike on London, based on who armed them,’ Krapivnik said, suggesting that ‘there will be an explosion, and New York will be gone and Washington will be next.’

“To summarize Krapivnik’s remarks, Guz asked, ‘Essentially, there should be a direct threat, straight from the President [Putin], that if something happens, nuclear missiles will fly against Washington and London. Do I understand it correctly?’ Krapivnik replied: ‘Absolutely, absolutely,’ affirming that nuclear weapons should be targeted at the U.S. and U.K….

“The Russia-Ukraine war has heightened global fears of a potential nuclear conflict, following months of rising tensions and repeated threats from Russia to use nuclear weapons against the U.S. and NATO countries. Putin has previously approved tactical nuclear weapons drills, and earlier in August, Russia advanced to the third stage, aimed at ‘preparing units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for the combat use of nonstrategic nuclear weapons,’ the Russian defense ministry said… Russia has an estimated 5,580 nuclear warheads, according to a 2024 report by the Federation of American Scientists, which says the U.S. has 5,044.”

Iran Closes German Institute

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 20:

“Judicial authorities in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Tuesday closed down two branches of German Language Institute (DSIT) in the city…  the branches had been designated ‘illegal centers affiliated with the German government’ which had ‘breached Iranian law, committed various illegal actions and extensive financial violations.’… The DSIT was founded in 1995 by the German Embassy in Tehran and describes itself on its website as ‘one of the leading institutions for the learning of the German language,’  offering courses of various levels for both young people and adults.

“Germany’s Foreign Office condemned the closure of the institute which it said was ‘in no way justifiable’ and summoned the Iranian ambassador… [demanding] the immediate reopening of the institute…

“Another media outlet, Nournews… suggested that the closures were a response to the closure of the Hamburg Islamic Center in Germany in July. At the time, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser had described [it] as an ‘important Iranian propaganda center in Europe.’ Iran had summoned the German ambassador in Tehran in protest at what it called a ‘hostile action’ and a ‘clear example of Islamophobia.’

“… German-Iranian diplomatic relations have suffered in recent years with several German nationals, some of whom hold dual German and Iranian citizenship, arrested and imprisoned in Iran on suspicion of espionage….”

German Military Base in Lithuania

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 19:

“Lithuanian and German officials on Monday took part in a ceremony marking the start of construction for a new military base that will house up to 4,000 combat-ready German troops when completed in late 2027. Another 1,000 contractors will be housed elsewhere in the country… with Germany committing last year to permanently deploy troops in the NATO and EU member state— the first permanent foreign deployment of German troops since World War II…

“German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has compared the decision to deploy Bundeswehr soldiers in the Baltics to that of the Allies posting soldiers in West Germany during the Cold War… In Berlin, budget infighting threatens to hamper German pledges to upgrade the country’s military, with requests such as €2.93 billion for more than 100 Leopard 2 A8 tanks — some of which are to be stationed in Lithuania — hanging in the balance….”

EU Plot to Censor Elon Musk Blasted

The New York Post wrote on August 16:

“The House Judiciary Committee has slammed the European Union’s efforts to ‘silence great Americans like Elon Musk,’ and is threatening to investigate their attempted ‘infringement on free speech,’ according to letters reviewed by The Post. On Thursday Committee Chair Jim Jordan fired off a missive to EU Commissioner Thierry Breton who, he alleges, is trying to ‘weaponize’ law against Musk… Jordan accused Breton, a liberal, of singling out conservatives Musk and Trump and attempting to intimidate them…

“The letter comes days after the French politician posted an open letter to X warning Musk against amplifying ‘hateful content’ ahead of a broadcast conversation with former President Trump. The letter pointed to EU legislation passed in 2022 which makes the owners of social media platforms such as X, Facebook and Tik Tok potentially liable for billions in fines for the ‘amplification of content which promotes hatred, disorder, incitement to violence or certain instances of disinformation’ in European countries…

“Soon after Breton posted his letter, the European Commission quickly distanced themselves, saying they had not authorized it.

“The Trump campaign also slammed the EU, claiming its official is trying to interfere with US politics. ‘The European Union should mind their own business instead of trying to meddle in the US Presidential election,’ Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said. ‘Let us be very clear — the European Union is an enemy of free speech and has no authority of any kind to dictate how we campaign.’

“Jordan is also holding US leaders responsible and slapped the State Department with subpoenas to learn about the Administration’s communication with the EU about this matter. ‘The silence from the pro-censorship Biden-Harris Administration is deafening—you would think censorship of American speech by foreign governments would be a step too far even for them,’ Jordan’s spokesman told The Post.

“Jordan’s harshly worded missive is part of a larger effort from members of Congress to push back against censorship. Over the last year, the Judiciary and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government began investigating ‘to what extent the Executive Branch has coerced or colluded with companies and other intermediaries to censor lawful speech.’ ‘In furtherance of our oversight, the Select Subcommittee has examined how other governments, including the European Union (EU), have sought to censor speech online,’ one of their reports noted. While members of Congress cannot investigate foreign governments, they can defend American companies and protect them by publicly pushing back against censorship.”

The censorship employed by the US government and its collusion with the social media are appalling. Note the next articles. 

Europe, Biden and Harris in Cahoots to Censor Free Speech

On August 20, 2024, the Ron Paul Institute republished the following article by Professor Jonathan Turley:

“… Now, that very right [of freedom of speech] is again under attack from another European government, which is claiming the right to censor what Americans are allowed to say about politics, science and other subjects. Indeed, the threat from the European Union may succeed in curtailing American freedom to an extent that the Axis powers could not have imagined. They may win, and our leaders have not said a thing yet about it.

“… One of the greatest threats to free speech today is the European Digital Services Act. The act bars speech that is viewed as ‘disinformation’ or ‘incitement.’… In Europe, free speech is in free fall. Germany, France, the United Kingdom and other countries have eviscerated free speech by criminalizing speech deemed inciteful or degrading to individuals or groups...

“According to polling, only 18 percent of Germans feel free to express their opinions in public. Fifty-nine percent of Germans do not even feel free expressing themselves in private among friends. Only 17 percent feel free to express themselves on the internet… there is now a massive censorship bureaucracy in Europe and the desire to silence opposing voices has become insatiable.

“Some in this country have the same taste for speech-regulation. After Elon Musk bought Twitter and dismantled most of the company’s censorship program, many on the left went bonkers. That fury only increased when Musk released the ‘Twitter files,’ confirming the long-denied coordination and support by the government in targeting and suppressing speech. In response, Hillary Clinton and other Democratic figures turned to Europe and called upon them to use their Digital Services Act to force censorship against Americans.

“The EU immediately responded by threatening Musk with confiscatory penalties against not just his company but himself. He would have to resume massive censorship or else face ruin… The anti-free speech movement had finally found the one man who could not be bullied, coerced or threatened into submission. Musk’s defiance has only magnified the unrelenting attacks against him in the media, academia and government…

“This campaign recently came to a head when Musk had the audacity to interview former president Donald Trump. In anticipation of the interview, one of the most notorious anti-free speech figures in the world went ballistic. European Commissioner for Internal Markets and Services Thierry Breton issued a threatening message to Musk…

“To recap, the EU is now moving to force censorship upon American citizens to meet its own demands of what is false, demeaning or inciting… Biden and Harris are not displeased with but supportive of letting the EU do what they are barred from doing under our Constitution. This administration is arguably the most anti-free speech government since John Adams signed the Sedition Act. They have supported a massive system of censorship, blacklisting and targeting of opposing voices. Democratic members have given full-throated support for censorship, including pushing social media companies to expand in areas ranging from climate control to gender identity.

“So, after only 80 years, our leaders are silent as a European government threatens to reduce our political speech to the lowest common denominator, which they will set according to their own values. Not a shot will be fired as Biden and Harris simply yield our rights to a global governing system… If free speech is truly the ‘indispensable right’ of all Americans, we need to treat this threat as an attack on our very existence. It is not only the rawest form of foreign intervention into an election, but a foreign attack on our very freedoms…”

First, the USA is destroyed from the inside, then it will be destroyed from the outside.

Facebook Censures Promotion for “Reagan” Movie

Breitbart wrote on August 15:

“After actor Dennis Quaid accused Facebook of censoring promotional content for his upcoming movie Reagan, the social media giant has admitted to ‘incorrectly’ rejecting ads for the movie… ‘While there are no restrictions on this page that would prevent the admins from posting, we did identify a handful of ads from this account that were incorrectly rejected,’ a Facebook spokesperson told the outlet. ‘This happened because our automated systems mistakenly determined that content about President Reagan required prior authorization in accordance with our policies for ads about Social Issues, Elections or Politics. This was a mistake and the restriction on the ads has been lifted.’

“Earlier this week, Dennis Quaid accused Facebook of censoring Reagan marketing content as well as twice suspending the movie’s official Facebook page. The apparent efforts to censor Reagan come during a presidential election year — a time when left-wing Silicon Valley giants have censored content that they believe will hurt Democrats. The 2020 election saw widespread  censorship of the New York Post’s Hunter Biden laptop report as well as the banning of then-President Donald Trump’s social media accounts. As Breitbart News reported, a recent study conducted by the Media Research Center (MRC) has uncovered 39 instances of Facebook interfering with U.S. elections since 2008.”

Social Media, including Facebook, Google and others, continue their dirty procedures of censoring “unpopular” content. Facebook’s “explanations” don’t hold any water. Note the next article. 

Facebook’s Explanation Doubtful 

Fox News wrote on August 16:

“‘Reagan’ star Dennis Quaid responded on Tuesday to Facebook’s explanation for why it was throttling efforts to boost marketing of his new biopic about the 40th president, suggesting it didn’t hold water.

“At first, Facebook reportedly wouldn’t allow the movie’s marketing team to boost a post with Quaid’s picture promoting the movie through a paid advertisement. Also, Facebook suspended the movie’s official account on at least two occasions over clips it posted of Quaid discussing the movie in media appearances. The marketers said they were told by Facebook that the post ‘mentions politicians or is about sensitive issues that could influence public opinion, how people vote and may impact the outcome of an election or pending legislation.’ But, as Quaid pointed out to Fox News’ Trace Gallagher, Reagan died in 2004 and certainly isn’t eligible for another term in office.

“‘It seems to be automated that way for some reason. No one’s responsible for that,’ Quaid said. ‘This happened several times, actually, and we were suspended two days in a row … The last time I heard, Reagan hasn’t been on the ballot in 40 years and not only that, he’s not even eligible to run because he served two terms.’..;

“Quaid also told podcast giant Joe Rogan this week that he’s all too aware of social media, in his view, trying to cancel conservative viewpoints…

“Quaid did acknowledge that after he and the film’s production team sent a letter to Facebook complaining about the targeting, the big tech platform admitted it was a ‘mistake,’ though he didn’t appear too convinced by the excuse. ‘… They said that yesterday because we put out a letter to it in an article on Newsweek. And they said they made a mistake. It was – their automatic systems had detected it.’ ‘Oh, how convenient,’ Rogan replied sarcastically, before going on to suggest that ‘rogue’ far-left employees might have had something to do with the ‘mistake.’ 

“‘Reagan’ will be released in theaters nationwide Aug. 30.”

Quaid’s concerns are well-founded.

Musk Quits in Brazil Because of Censorship

The Guardian wrote on August 17:

“Elon Musk announced on Saturday that the social media platform X would close its operations in Brazil ‘effective immediately’ due to what it called ‘censorship orders’ from the Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes. 

“X claims Moraes secretly threatened one of its legal representatives in the South American country with arrest if it did not comply with legal orders to take down some content from its platform. Brazil’s supreme court, where Moraes has a seat, did not immediately respond to a request for comment…”

Censorship all over the place…

Kennedy One of the Most Disruptive Independent Candidates in Decades

Fox News wrote on August 16:

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is denying reports that he sought a position in a hypothetical Democratic administration. Kennedy was accused this week of reaching out to Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris’ team to discuss the possibility of working inside a future Cabinet — the claim appeared in a report from the Washington Post.  ‘That’s fake news. I didn’t ask Kamala Harris for a Cabinet position but I’ve reached out to all the candidates. I’ve met with some,’ Kennedy told guests during his ‘TikTok Town Hall’ live-streamed event… Kennedy said he wasn’t sure he would be able to serve in a Harris-Walz administration unless ‘a lot of different changes’ were made… Kennedy was previously recorded on video speaking to former President Trump during a meeting at last month’s convention in Milwaukee, in which Trump appeared to allude to potential positions in his administration.

“Nevertheless, Kennedy has continued to campaign and make regular media appearances with the expectation that he can win the election, the report notes, though he has left open the possibility of meeting with or getting out of the way of either Harris or Trump if they share an openness about his vision for the country. Polling has shown Kennedy is one of the most disruptive independent candidates in decades in both breadth of appeal and commitment of his supporters.”

Democratic Party Much Different Now

Newsmax wrote on August 15:

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he has ‘no plans to endorse’ Vice President Kamala Harris… Kennedy began by attacking the modern Democratic Party as being ‘unrecognizable’ to the one of his father, former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and uncle, former President John F. Kennedy. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer, lamented that he could not ‘reconcile’ how far Democrats have drifted from his values. ‘The Democratic Party of RFK and JFK was the party of civil liberties and free speech. VP Harris’ is the party of censorship, lockdowns, and medical coercion,’ Kennedy wrote. ‘Kennedy Democrats were anti-war. Kamala’s is riddled with neocon warmongers. The RFK/JFK Dems were allies of Main Street, cops, firefighters, and working people. VP Harris’ is the Party of Big Tech, Big Pharma and Wall Street.’

“Kennedy has endured a difficult week after his removal from the New York state presidential ballot and a petition being circulated in Pennsylvania to have him removed. Kennedy has accused the Democrats of being the party of ‘lawfare’ and wrote that Harris is ‘scared to debate and can’t survive an unscripted interview.’ ‘I’ve spent years battling government corruption and lies. VP Harris spent years gaslighting Americans about the health of our Commander in Chief. I have no plans to endorse Kamala Harris for President. I do have a plan to defeat her,’ Kennedy wrote.”

The Anti-Democratic Democratic Party

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on August 19:

“The Democrats continue to run to course — manipulating — most recently, Joe Biden out of the presidential race. Their history for the last decade has been one of manipulation and dirty tricks, false promises and anti-democratic actions. They campaign claiming Trump is out to destroy democracy when at the same time can’t seem to find enough anti-democratic ways to behave themselves.

“Dirty tricks have long been a part of politics, but in the last decade the Democrats have turned the machine up to eleven. The year 2015 was a pivotal one in that it presented to the American people a massive plot to undermine a candidate for president based solely on direct lies. Russiagate was comprehensive in scope, touching not only on candidate Trump but also on his advisors and key staff. The plot was so outrageous — Trump was an actual Russian agent, a living Manchurian candidate — that it had to be true…

“Clinton was not necessarily the only loser in 2016. ‘The seeds,’ writes the New York Times, ‘of President Biden’s reaction to the Democratic Party’s 2024 crisis of confidence in him were planted in that manipulation to send her to the head of the ticket. It was in October 2015 when Biden, then vice president, announced in the White House Rose Garden that he would not run against Hillary Clinton… What was left unsaid was the manipulation applied to Biden to not take his case to the people but instead allow President Obama, Clinton and others in the Obama camp to force him to the sidelines. He was manipulated into not running to clear the path for Hillary…

“Trump’s 2016 win was not the end of the Democrats’ manipulation and dirty tricks, simply the beginning of another phase. In addition to the remnants of the whole extended Russiagate plot, Trump faced down the Emoluments Clause, two impeachments, claims Trump gave away intelligence info to Putin in [the] Helsinki hoax, Putin is Trump’s spy handler hoax and Trump has been an agent since the 1980s hoax, and a bizarre celebrity Twitter contest about the best way to decapitate Trump… The intent was to try and drive Trump from office either indirectly by humiliating him or directly, by claiming he was mentally ill and the 25th Amendment needed to be invoked. If he could not be actually removed from office, the manipulations were hoped to neuter the president politically even as he still sat in the Oval Office. That they all failed was not for a lack of trying on the part of the Democrats.

“If the 2024 presidential campaign started the day Trump left office in January 2021, so did the Democratic manipulation campaign against him, this round built on lawfare, the manipulation of actual laws to force Trump into court, convict him as a felon, maybe bankrupt him, certainly embarrass him, all in hopes of driving him from the race or at a minimum weaken his hold on large numbers of voters. Though several cases will likely drag on through the election, the cases concluded accomplished none of their goals. If anything, Trump the martyr is stronger as a candidate than ever before. What matters here is the ongoing pattern of dirty tricks and manipulations, not whether they succeed, or, like the impeachments and the trials, fail in their larger political purposes.

“The 2020 election between Trump and Biden was close, so close that the appearance of a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden which showed both Hunter and Joe tangled up in foreign money could have swung the race. Democrats again responded with a manipulation, another full-on falsehood, with 52 Deep State personnel writing an open letter claiming the laptop was likely Russian disinformation designed to discredit Biden and smear the tail end of the campaign… [and with] canceling Twitter accounts which sought to tell the truth…

“The next Manipulation Grande started in the 2020 campaign, hiding a very old and senile Joe Biden from voters so they did not know what kind of man they were actually voting for. In the 2020 campaign the broad excuse was Covid… and no one suspected it was all flim-flam to hide Biden’s growing dementia…

“In fighting for his political life, Biden cited the ‘fact’ that he won the primaries for the 2024 election… Biden painted his stand as critical to his larger defense of American democracy. ‘How can we stand for democracy in our nation if we ignore it in our own party?’ Then he did because he was told to do so by his master’s voice…”

The political manipulations in the USA are just sickening.

Biden and the Democratic Hypocrites

The New York Post wrote on August 20:

“The Joe Biden show is officially in reruns. Biden even got bumped out of prime time. His speech started at 11:28 p.m., in the hour when old sitcoms run in syndication. That wasn’t an accident. The first night of the Democratic convention was losers night, featuring Biden and Hillary Clinton…

“Democrats lined up an endless list of speakers ahead of Biden to push his speech back as far as they could, so as few people as possible would hear it. The speech itself was written as a celebration of Biden’s accomplishments — some real, many imagined — as president. The actual nominee was an afterthought. Biden spoke of Kamala Harris only as someone who helped him — not for anything she ever did on her own. If the Harris campaign had any hopes that Joe would let them get distance from his record, they were dashed….

“Amid the usual rants about January 6, there were the usual bald-faced lies, such as the claim that the Biden-Harris administration ‘helped schools get back open’ after COVID, when in fact they ignored the recommendations of scientists to side with the teachers unions in protracting school closures. They expect us to nod along, knowing it’s not true…

“Of course, the pretense of one big happy family had to be maintained. Biden denied that he was angry at the Democrats who forced him off the ticket. Nancy Pelosi stood in the front row holding a ‘We Love Joe’ sign, just weeks after wielding the knife. She came to bury Joe, not to praise him.

“Biden stayed mostly on script, leaning on the prepared text to keep him from wandering off. But he was shouty and glowering as a result. By the end, nobody would wonder why Democrats decided they needed to dump [him]. The amazing thing is that they made it as far as July pretending he was up to the job.”

Fox News added on August 20:

“Along the way, Biden was subjected to such over-the-top tributes and ‘tears of joy’…  from many of the same people who not long ago were colluding  behind closed doors to kick him to the curb…

“Weeks after orchestrating the plot that led to Biden’s exit, Pelosi suggested his likeness belonged on Mt. Rushmore. The two have reportedly not spoken since the incident, and the president remains ‘unhappy’ about events, according to reporting from the New York Times… With friends like these, it’s no wonder the Bidens are jetting off to California rather than sticking around Chicago

“For all the talk about Harris’ ‘joy’ and the Democrats’ momentum, remember this: Joe Biden beat a talented field of candidates in 2020, including the person vying to replace him. The last Harris presidential run was so lackluster she dropped out in December 2019 – more than a month before the first voters were cast..”

Biden Engaged in Impeachable Conduct

Newsmax wrote on August 19:

“The House’s three-committee impeachment inquiry released a report Monday morning finding President Joe Biden has ‘engaged in impeachable conduct,’ including an ‘abuse of power’ when he was vice president and ‘obstruction of justice’ as president to cover his family’s ‘global influence peddling racket’ to defraud the United States. ‘The totality of the corrupt conduct uncovered by the committees is egregious,’ says the executive summary of the 292 page impeachment report released by the House Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means committees. ‘President Joe Biden conspired to commit influence peddling and grift. In doing so, he abused his office and, by repeatedly lying about his abuse of office, has defrauded the United States to enrich his family.’…

“Monday’s report does not conclude the Biden impeachment inquiry, but provides an official summary of the ‘evidence gathered to date’ to give to the House and Senate a roadmap in the event Congress moves forward with an impeachment of the president. Just days after the July 13 assassination attempt on Republican nominee Donald Trump, Biden quit the race and handed the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris, potentially rendering a Biden impeachment moot in these final months of his term…”

The New York Post added on August 19:

“The report… is… also a reminder of how hard Democrats and the media propped up Joe despite all the evidence of unethical behavior. Keep that in mind as they prop up Kamala.”

Planned Parenthood Helps With Abortions

NBC Chicago wrote on August 20:

“A Planned Parenthood mobile clinic located near the Democratic Convention in Chicago advertised free medication abortions, vasectomies and emergency contraception during the first two days of the DNC… The mobile clinic was located in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood, near the site of the United Center and the DNC, from noon to 7 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday, Days 1 and 2 of the convention.

“As of Monday morning, Planned Parenthood wrote in a press release that ‘all appointments have been booked’ and encouraged patients to make an appointment at a Planned Parenthood of Illinois health center in Chicago by visiting [their website]. ‘As people from across the country travel to Illinois this week, we are proud to demonstrate what is possible when policies truly support accessible reproductive health care,’ said Dr. Colleen McNicholas, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, in a statement.”

npr wrote on August 20:

“Planned Parenthood… offered prescriptions for abortion pills – which she says patients could take on site or take home, under Illinois law. Illinois, where Democrats control state government, has become a major access point for patients seeking abortions.

“Planned Parenthood purchased the RV in response to the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which allowed most of Illinois’ neighboring states to heavily restrict abortion.

Still, in the current political reality, abortion is a key issue that galvanizes each party’s base.

“In a statement, National Right to Life President Carol Tobias called the Planned Parenthood clinic ‘disgusting,’ and said it was ‘not surprising,’ given the Democratic Party’s support for abortion rights. Meanwhile, at the convention, Democrats are showcasing the stories of women who’ve been affected by abortion bans – including a rape victim and patients facing medical complications. The mobile Planned Parenthood clinic continues for a second day, providing medication abortion through late Tuesday night.”

D. Vance Complains About German Immigrants

t-online wrote on August 19:

“In a recently surfaced video clip from 2021, J.D. Vance blames immigrants from Germany, Italy and Ireland for high crime rates. In the 19th century, these formed ‘ethnic enclaves’ in the USA and fought each other. At a press conference over the weekend, Vance explained his remarks – citing Martin Scorsese’s film ‘Gangs of New York’ as a source: ‘That’s what I’m talking about, these ethnic enclaves in the middle of our country!’

“Especially in the 19th century, many people from Italy, Ireland and Germany fled to the USA. There had already been a wave of anti-Catholic and racist violence, especially in New York. Vance himself has Irish ancestors, Donald Trump has German ancestors.”

The World Against Israel

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 14:

“Germany joined a chorus of international disapproval for the actions of Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir after he led hundreds of religious ultra-nationalists to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. The complex is the third holiest site in Islam and the holiest in Judaism, because two Jewish temples once stood there. Ben-Gvir… has previously criticized the agreement with the Muslim authorities that administer it as ‘racist’ and anti-Jewish. Usually, Jews and other non-Muslims are only allowed to visit at specific times and without displaying religious symbols or praying at the site…

“During his Tuesday visit to the site, which Jews refer to as Temple Mount, Ben-Gvir had called for Jewish prayers to be permitted there. Joined by hundreds of mostly religious and ultra-nationalist Jews, Ben-Gvir also spoke out again against negotiations with Hamas about a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the Israeli hostages still being held in the Palestinian territory… [His] visit… drew sharp condemnation not only from Muslim-majority countries but also the United States, the European Union and the United Nations.

“Germany said Ben-Gvir’s actions represented a provocation in the already tense situation. ‘We expect the Israeli government to stop such deliberate provocations. Particularly in the current situation, such playing with fire is extremely dangerous and further endangers security in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Israel,’ a spokeswoman for Germany’s Foreign Office told a press briefing on Wednesday. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell posted on X that the bloc ‘strongly condemns the provocations.’ Meanwhile, France’s foreign ministry issued a statement: ‘This new provocation is unacceptable.’

“US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Ben Gvir showed ‘blatant disregard’ for the status quo at the compound… ‘The storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by hundreds of radical Israelis, including ministers, under police protection is a provocation that violates the historical status of Jerusalem and will further escalate the tension in our region,’ the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

“Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the UN opposed ‘any efforts to change the status quo within the holy sites… This sort of behaviour is unhelpful and it is unduly provocative,’ he added.”

All used the term “provocation,” as if they had agreed on using this term. Turkey’s comments border on the ludicrous. And why should the Temple Mount, on which the two temples stood, be prohibited for Jews? Note the next article.

No Status Quo on the Temple Mount

Israel Today wrote on August 18:

“Nearly three thousand Jews visited the Temple Mount last week on Tuesday, Tisha B’av, which commemorates the destruction of the two ancient Jewish Temples. But it was the visits to the Temple Mount by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Minister for the Negev and the Galilee Yitzhak Wasserlauf that set off another firestorm of controversy. Ben-Gvir said during the visit that the status quo had changed and that Jews could now pray at the site. Critics condemned the visit and remarks as provocative, warning they could derail the currently ongoing hostage talks in Doha, Qatar, or even ignite the Muslim world. They claimed Ben-Gvir violated the status quo on the Temple Mount.

“But according to Yehuda Glick, a former Knesset member and currently chairman of the Shalom Jerusalem Foundation, in reality there is no status quo. ‘Jews have been praying publicly and regularly on the Temple Mount for the last decade,’ he said. The only difference, he told JNS, was that until now no one acknowledged it or said anything about it. What made Ben-Gvir’s visit different was his official announcement that prayer on the Temple Mount is permitted, he added…

“While officially Israel denies any changes have been made to the status quo, it no longer exists as formulated by Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan in 1967. According to Glick, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is paying lip service to it, ‘but is totally supportive of the changes that are happening.’… Ben-Gvir’s office [stated] that as national security minister he could set policy on the Temple Mount and had determined that Jews could pray there… Ben-Gvir, his followers and many other Israeli Jews believe the time has come to stand up to foreign abuse and to assert full sovereignty over the Temple Mount…

“The idea that freedom of worship applies everywhere except for Jews on the Temple Mount is viewed by many as preposterous and hypocritical—perhaps even anti-Semitic…”

Ultimately, the Jews WILL occupy the Temple Mount and build the third temple there.

The Shroud of Turin—Genuine?

The Sun wrote on August 20:

“The famed Shroud of Turin- a piece of linen imprinted with the image of a bearded man – has been a mystery for centuries. Believers claim Jesus was wrapped in the shroud before he was buried and that the image is him, while others have disagreed and branded it a hoax. But new evidence suggests the cloth was made around 2,000 years ago – the same period when he was said to have lived and died… Italian researchers used specialist x-ray technology to examine the linen sheet and determine its age. The Institute of Crystallography of the National Research Council studied eight small samples of fabric to uncover tiny details of the linen’s structure and cellulose patterns. They used specific ageing metrics like temperature and humidity to determine the results.

“Researchers in 1988 claimed to have debunked the relic and proved it was from the Middle Ages – hundreds of years after Jesus. But Dr Liberato De Caro, lead author of the latest study, said the old research – which used carbon dating to estimate the shroud was made between the years 1260 and 1390 – was unreliable. He explained: ‘Fabric samples are usually subject to all kinds of contamination, which cannot be completely removed from the dated specimen.’…

“The image on the shroud appears to show a man with sunken eyes who is between 5ft 7in to 6ft tall. Some claim markings on the body resemble horror crucifixion wounds. Signs of wounds from a thorny crown on the head, injuries to the arms and shoulders and lacerations to the back have all been reported by researchers… The Turin Shroud was first displayed publicly in 1350 and since 1578 has been preserved in the royal chapel of the cathedral of San Giovanni Battista in Turin, Italy – hence its name.”

Apart from the age determination using the [sometimes indeed unreliable] radio carbon method, there are other reasons why the Shroud of Turin – even if it were “genuine” – could NOT depict Jesus Christ. Please read our Q&A, https://www.eternalgod.org/is-the-shroud-of-turin-authentic

Huge Earthquakes Strike in Russia and Japan

The Sun wrote on August 17:

“A HUGE earthquake has hit off the eastern coast of Russia with a tsunami warning issued. The 7.2 magnitude quake struck around 27 miles deep in Kamchatka… It struck around 8.10pm UK time…  Many major quakes have occurred in the Kamchatka region over the years. Two in 1923 and 1952 both sparked large tsunamis…

“Just days ago a 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit Japan… on the southwestern island of Kyushu. Japan’s Meteorological Agency said: ‘Tsunamis will strike repeatedly… Please do not enter the sea or approach the coast until the warning is lifted.’” 

Christ said that in these end times, we will hear more and more about powerful earthquakes all over the world. 

Earthquakes and Volcanoes in Russia

CNN wrote on August 18:

“A volcano has erupted following a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck off Russia’s east coast, spurting a column of ash miles into the air… The Shiveluch volcano is around 280 miles from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a coastal city with a population of about 180,000 that lies in Russia’s eastern region of Kamchatka. ‘According to visual evaluations, the ash column is rising as high as 8 kilometers (5 miles) above the sea level,’ TASS reported Sunday morning local time, adding the volcano had released a gush of lava.”

USA Today wrote on August 18:

“A volcano erupted in Russia hours before a magnitude 7 earthquake shook the ground near the country’s east coast, according to the United States Geological Survey.”

Allegedly, these events are unrelated. That is extremely difficult to believe. 

Asteroid Bombshell

The Sun wrote on August 216:

“SPACE scientists have traced back the origins of the cataclysmic asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. The ruinous rock – thought to be at least six miles wide – likely cannoned into earth from the outer solar system, it’s been discovered… It’s then thought to have been nudged out of orbit, possibly due to a crash with another rock, sending it on an apocalyptic collision course with earth.

“The impact crater formed after the rock slammed into earth… is buried… in Mexico.  A layer across earth was caused by the blow…  It’s also been proposed that a comet wiped out the dinosaurs, but Fischer-Godde says his team’s findings rule out that hypothesis.

“Impact from the asteroid 66 million years ago made the Chicxulub crater nearly 150 miles in diameter, leading to devastating consequences for life on earth at the time. The blow threw huge amounts of debris in the air and caused massive tidal waves that would storm over the American continents… ‘A huge blast wave and heatwave went out and it threw vast amounts of material up into the atmosphere.’ It’s thought sunlight would’ve been restricted for at least a decade…

“Fischer-Godde pointed out that although his findings offer rare insight into the planet’s past, it also comes as an alert for earth’s future. He said: ‘If there’s ever going to be a C-type asteroid on an Earth-crossing orbit, we have to be very careful. Because it might be the last one we witness.’”

The article’s suggestion that more than just one huge asteroid was involved, is quite interesting. So is the warning at the end of the article. The Bible speaks of terrible end-time catastrophes, with stars falling down from heaven.  

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.

In the first two installments of this new series, we have pointed out that at the time of the final revival of the ancient Roman Empire in Europe, God’s Church will be busy, with renewed strength, to fulfill its end-time commission to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God in all the world as a witness, prior to Christ’s return. As the European power will only survive for a short time, so the preaching of the gospel will likewise be short-lived. Both the last revival of the Roman Empire [through the raising up of the ancient Chaldeans, and their subsequent defeat] and the preaching of the gospel are described as the Work of God.

In this installment, we will concentrate on God’s Work, as it relates to the preaching of the gospel.

We read previously in Acts 13:41 that the preaching of the gospel is defined as God working a work in our days. We also read in Romans 9:28 that God will finish this work and cut it short in righteousness, as He will make a short work upon the earth. The immediate context is salvation of a remnant of Israel and the warning not to despise God’s Word (compare Romans 9:25-27; Acts 13: 45-52; also note Isaiah 10:22-23). Salvation is of course an important part of the gospel message. We are told that we must endure to the end to be saved. And Jesus said to His disciples in Mark 16:15-16:

“… Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”

That preaching the gospel is indeed the Work of God is confirmed in many passages in the Bible. While God is using men to do the preaching, it is not the work of man that this is being accomplished, but it is God doing His Work through human instruments.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:57-58:

“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

The ultimate outcome is victory over death (compare verse 54). The gospel message reveals that we can inherit eternal life in the Kingdom of God if we endure until the end. When we do the Work of God by preaching the gospel message, we do not do it in vain. It will produce fruit, even though it may not be obvious right away. Notice Isaiah 55:10-11:

“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

What the gospel message contains will be accomplished, in God’s due time. This is also confirmed in Jeremiah 1:12, where God says: “You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word.”

In the last installment, we already referred to Ezekiel 12:22-28, showing that at the very end, God’s Word will come true swiftly and without postponement or delay.

Paul or Saul and Barnabas were set aside by God to accomplish God’s Work of preaching the gospel. We read in Acts 13:2-5:

“As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant.”

However, contentions arose between Paul and Barnabas, pertaining to their assistant John. We read in Acts 15:36-38:

“Then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, ‘Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing.’  Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark (He was also called John; compare Acts 12:12). But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus…”

John had departed from them, returning to Jerusalem, as described in Acts 13:13. We read later that John Mark worked with Paul as one of his “fellow workers for the kingdom of God” (Colossians 4:10-11), but we do not read that Paul and Barnabas ever worked together again.

We also read in 1 Corinthians 16:9-10, that doing the Work of God is associated with God’s opening a door or an opportunity to preach the gospel:

“For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. Now if Timothy comes, see that he may be with you without fear; for he does the work of the Lord, as I also do.”

The clause “he is doing the work of the Lord” is better translated as “… it is the Lord’s work that he is engaged on” (Revised English Bible), emphasizing the fact that it is not the work of man. Or, as the New International Version has it, “he is carrying on the work of the Lord,” emphasizing his continuing effort in this regard. The Luther Bible says, “he is driving the work of the Lord” (“er treibt das Werk des Herrn”).

We also read in 2 Corinthians 2:12:

“Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord.”

In Acts 14:26-27, an important aspect of successfully carrying out the Work of preaching the gospel is mentioned, when it says:

“From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed. Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.”

It is through faith or belief in God and in Christ’s Sacrifice and in the gospel of the Kingdom of God (compare Mark 1:14-15), that we can come to the point of baptism, opening for us the way to eternal life. In order to be successful in our commission to do the Work of God, we need to pray to God that He opens doors or ways for us to accomplish the task God has set before us—and that we have the faith and strength to go through those doors and proclaim God’s Word with power. We read in Colossians 4:2-4:

“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.’

In Philippians 2:25-30, we read:

“Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need; since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem; because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me.”

Here the work of Christ is not only associated with the preaching of the gospel, but also with taking care of the needs of the brethren—in this case, Paul.

In James 1:22-27, a similar association is made:

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does… Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”

At the time of Paul and the early New Testament Church, we read that the Church was busy and energetic in doing God’s Work of preaching the gospel in all the world as a witness. Paul knew of course Christ’s command to preach the gospel to every creature, or, as other translations have it, “to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15), and so he even declared in Colossians 1:21-28:

“And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight– if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”

The German Schlachter Bible translates verse 23: “… which was preached in the entire creation, which is under heaven…” Likewise the “Revised English Bible”: “This is the gospel which has been proclaimed in the whole creation under heaven.”

We see here that the gospel—the good news of the Kingdom of God—includes a warning message to encourage repentance and striving for perfection. He went even further, stating in Ephesians 3:8-10:

“To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places…”

But after the death of Paul and the other early apostles, the preaching of the gospel to the world would gradually stop, and so, as we have said many times, for over 1900 years, the gospel was NOT preached to the world, until God began to motivate His church and giving it the strength and opportunities to begin so again. This way, that worldwide proclamation would become the sign of the end—of the return of Jesus Christ. This proclamation would continue during the Great Tribulation as well—including through the preaching of the Two Witnesses. As God’s prophets (Revelation 11:3, 6, 10), they will of course warn the nations and proclaim what will happen—including, what has been written down in the Bible, as we discussed in the last installment, as all of this is also part of the Work of God. And God’s end-time Church has been given the commission to warn the nations, as will be discussed in more detail in the next installment.

We will also discuss the marvelous Truth as to why we have said that the more we are involved in God’s Work of preaching the gospel, the more we will overcome our sins and our human nature… which is necessary to be able to enter the Kingdom and Family of God.

For now, we want to conclude by pointing out that at times, preaching the gospel of God’s coming rule over rebellious mankind is not always an easy task, and without God’s help, strength and encouragement, it could not be done.

Jeremiah 20:8-9 expressed this challenge in the following way:

“For when I spoke, I cried out; I shouted, ‘Violence and plunder!’ Because the word of the LORD was made to me A reproach and a derision daily. Then I said, ‘I will not make mention of Him, Nor speak anymore in His name.’ But His word was in my heart like a burning fire. Shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, And I could not.”

In 1 Corinthians 9:16-17, Paul likewise pointed out that he had really no choice but to preach the gospel, saying:

“For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship.”

In Revelation 10:8-11, John, as representative of the end-time Church, is given a little book to eat and to use it for a message of prophecy:

“Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, ‘Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.’ So I went to the angel and said to him, ‘Give me the little book.’ And he said to me, ‘Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.’ Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. And he said to me, ‘You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.’”

The book tasted good at first, but it became bitter, due to the events which were to happen to many peoples, nations, tongues and kings. It would not be pleasant to proclaim these events, but they have to be announced—otherwise, Christ could not return to this earth.

(To be continued)

 Lead Writer: Norbert Link

compiled by Dave Harris

“Europe Attacks America’s Freedom!” is the title of a new StandingWatch program presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is the summary: 

Europe’s attempt to silence Elon Musk is only one example of a frightening and alarming policy to censor free speech, including for Americans, with the support and encouragement of the US government. These attempts by an autocratic foreign government have been viewed as “attacks on America’s very existence and its very freedoms.”

“Europa greift die USA an!” is the title of a new AufPostenStehen program (as described above) presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “Europe Attacks America’s Freedom!”

The German translation of our English booklet, “The Fall and Rise of the Jewish People” (“Niedergang und Aufstieg des jüdischen Volkes.”) has been submitted to graphic designer Shelly Bruno in preparation for printing.

“Lässt sich mit der Bergpredigt ein Land regieren?” last Sabbath’s German sermonette by Mike Richter, is now posted. Title in English: “Can You Govern a Country with the Sermon on the Mount?”

“Eine enorme Verantwortung,” last Sabbath’s German sermon by Christoph Sperzel, is now posted. Title in English:  “A Huge Responsibility.”

“All Things New,” last Sabbath’s sermonette presented by Eric Rank, is now posted. Here is the summary:

Becoming a Christian dramatically changes the outlook on life. Coming to conversion transforms our understanding of the world we live in, our own lives, and the nature of existence itself! How can we develop and maintain a perspective that encourages us to appreciate the newness of life that God has in store?

“Finished” last Sabbath’s sermon presented by Dave Harris, is now posted. Here is the summary:

The Bible records actions and activities that have been or are destined to be completed. It is important for us to understand that God will fulfill all that He has planned. Will we be among those who keep the faith until the end—who finish our calling to salvation?

On, August 10, 2024, Frank Bruno will present the first split sermon, titled, “Seeking Joy Through Faith,” and Eric Rank will present the second split sermon, titled, “Are You Really Free?”

The live services are available, over video and audio, at http://eternalgod.org/live-services/ (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time; 8:30 pm Greenwich Mean Time; 9:30 pm Central European Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

Paradoxically, our lives are at the same time vanishingly diminutive and immensely important. Considering the enormity of creation, our lives occupy a mere moment in time. We are a mote in the universe. The impact we might make with the greatest of possible achievements in the history of man quickly fades from memory. Yet, in the grand plan of God, the Creator of everything, our lives are so significant that He would have still sent His Son as a Sacrifice for our sins if we had been the only person alive needing salvation. We are so small and the events in our lives are so trivial, yet our lives in the eyes of God are so awesome as to be of eternal importance.

Day to day, it helps to consider this paradox. In the good moments when we might have feelings of pride in our achievement, it helps to remember that what we have done is miniscule when zooming out to see the bigger picture. More emphatically, anything that we might be able to accomplish is only possible with God’s help. On the opposite end of the spectrum, in difficult times when we might face seemingly impossible circumstances, it helps to remember that our problems will eventually pass. Even if we face the most extreme situation of a threat against our life, it helps to know that in God’s great plan, this life is just a temporary physical existence that will give way to an eternal one. Accepting that our lives are relatively small and insignificant helps temper pride and cope with difficulty. Yet, believing that we are so important to God that He sacrificed His only Son so that we can live with Him eternally in glory is infinitely revitalizing!

It is a great relief when we understand the Truth of God’s plan and how we play a role in it. The experiences we now have that cause us to abound in joy or cower in grief lose their power to control us because we know there’s something much greater to look forward to. The Spirit of God is the only thing that makes it possible to understand the magnitude of God’s plan. “But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’ But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). The future that we have is beyond the capacity of the physical man to comprehend without God’s Spirit. When we have the Truth inspired by the Holy Spirit working in our lives, it will function as a powerful guide. Knowing what God has prepared for us makes our hardships bearable and keeps our physical delights in their place.

Even though we understand God’s awesome plan, made possible through the Holy Spirit, what’s even more amazing is that we only have a glimpse of what the future holds. We can abstractly understand eternity and what it means to become glorified, but we are incapable of experiencing it right now. Without that experience, there’s only so much that we can know. “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). Therefore, if we can only begin to comprehend what God has in store for us now while we are bound by our physical existence, how much greater will that glorious life actually be? The future God has planned defies all imagination.

Contemplating the greatness of God’s Truth must influence our perspective. The greatness of God’s plan for us does not need to diminish the meaning of the real experiences we have. We don’t have to be in denial throughout our lives believing that our experiences are of no value. On the contrary, the hardships and the good times alike are experiences meant to train us. Growing in our calling involves going through it all. Remember that Jesus Christ came to this Earth fully human as we are, so that He could experience life and suffer as we do. Just because we have eternal life to look forward to doesn’t mean that our lives now aren’t valuable. Rather, we understand how to keep it in perspective. Suffering in this life is difficult. But relatively speaking, our suffering now is insignificant in comparison to our great future. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). The experiences that we have now give us the opportunity to develop our relationship with God, which will lead us to glory so great that it will lift the weight of all our prior suffering.

We must spend whatever time we have left on this Earth growing closer to God and working ever closer to perfection. We have the hope of eternity to guide us through the good times and the bad, so that we don’t go astray. We have a great future to look forward to, and we have the privilege now to understand it. “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

by Norbert Link

We begin with the controversial prisoner swap with Russia and focus especially on Germany’s questionable conduct in the matter; continue with further outrageous and abominable occurrences at the Olympics, including biological men beating up women in women’s boxing competition and Macron’s statement that he was proud of the terrible Olympic opening ceremony, while the Vatican issued a belated timid and almost apologetic “condemnation” of the blasphemies committed during that ceremony.

We continue with examples of Kamala Harris’ “word salad” and her flip-flopping on major issues; Pelosi’s hypocrisy and Kamala Harris’ left-wing running mate Tim Walz; and we address the disaster in Venezuela which some commentators feel was the logical consequence of the Biden Administration’s failed policy.

We address Google’s play with fire; and we speak on the explosive situation in the Middle East, with the world waiting for the next devastating event. We also report an incredible occurrence in Ireland pertaining to a Jewish rabbi.

We speak on the turmoil in the UK, which was linked to a mass stabbing earlier last week allegedly by a 17-year-old Rwandan-heritage second-generation immigrant. The perpetrator killed three young girls and injured many others. While the left-wing politicians and the mass media were quick to blame “right-wing extremists” for the riots, we publish several articles questioning this common narrative and asking for the real causes of these terrible events. We also wonder whether the UK is on the way to censorship and dictatorship.

Please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Why the Riots in the UK?”

Throughout this section, we have underlined pertinent statements in the quoted articles, for the convenience and quick overview of the reader.

Germany’s Deal With the Devil

AFP wrote on August 2:

“Germany’s release of a convicted murderer in order to facilitate the biggest East-West prisoner swap since the Cold War has garnered praise from Washington but stirred controversy at home. Those freed in the deal include US journalist Evan Gershkovich, several high-profile Russian opposition figures and five German nationals who were being held in Russia and Belarus. But of the countries who released Russian prisoners in return, Germany has had to pay a particularly high price, setting free a man [Krasikov] who committed murder in broad daylight in the center of Berlin…

“German TV channel NTV reported that there had been rows between Scholz’s office and the justice ministry over Krasikov’s case. According to other reports in the German press, the justice ministry eventually ordered prosecutors to suspend Krasikov’s sentence to enable his deportation. Some in judicial circles reportedly felt this was a case of inappropriate political meddling in the legal process.

“The German section of human rights organization Amnesty International condemned the ‘bitter taste’ of the deal and the fact that it had created an equivalence between ‘a murderer… convicted in a fair trial’ and ‘people who have just exercised their right to free speech’…  An opinion piece in Germany’s Bild tabloid said that while the release of rights activists and German citizens in Russia was to be welcomed, ‘the perverse message given to the Russian people is that Putin is a hero [for] saving murderers.’… Michael Roth, the head of the German’s parliament’s foreign affairs committee and member of Scholz’s Social Democrats, summed up Berlin’s decision on X: ‘Sometimes for reasons of humanity you have to do a deal with the devil.’…

“The Spiegel weekly reported that Thursday’s swap came after ‘several months’ of negotiations between the CIA, Germany’s BND intelligence agency and the Kremlin. The swap was originally envisioned to include Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died [was murdered by Putin] in an Arctic prison in February…”

An old German proverb says; If you want to eat with the devil, you must have a long spoon (“Wer mit dem Teufel essen will, muss einen langen Löffel haben.”)

More Fraud, Disgrace and Abomination at the Olympics

Breitbart wrote on August 2:

“Another controversial [biologically male] boxer who had been disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) defeated a female opponent at the Paris Olympics on Friday… Lin Yu-Ting is the second of two boxers that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed to fight as females despite their failures in the IBA’s gender test, which caused the world boxing organization to disqualify them for sanctioned bouts last year… Imane Khelif, the first competitor who had failed the IBA’s chromosome test, had so overmatched Italian boxer Angela Carini that the latter forfeited the match on Thursday after only 46 seconds in the ring.

“In 2023, the International Boxing Association (IBA) President Umar Kremlev explained his organization’s decision to disqualify Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting and Algeria’s Imane Khelif from competing in the IBA’s 2023 Women’s World Boxing Championships… ‘Based on DNA tests, we identified a number of athletes who tried to trick their colleagues into posing as women. According to the results of the tests, it was proved that they have XY chromosomes…’”

This is so sick, abominable and patently unfair. But in France, everything seems to go. Note the next two articles.  

The Dangerous Nonsense of Men “Competing” in Women’s Sports

The New York Post wrote on August 2:

“In the past Khelif has been deemed to be ‘biologically male’…  But that doesn’t seem to have been a problem for the IOC. Which perhaps isn’t surprising at an Olympics which started with an opening ceremony focused on a bizarre veneration of bearded ladies and balls-out drag-queens. For years campaigners and female athletes have warned about the presence of biological men in women’s sports. In recent years this has covered almost every known field

“…it is striking how little sympathy these actual women have got. And how often they have been made into the controversial ones. Instead of people standing up for their rights and for the right to say things that absolutely everybody said until about five years ago. Young women who have worked all hours to get to their peak performance capability have kept having their dreams dashed. Time and again they took the silver or bronze medal or missed the podium altogether… Unsurprisingly it was the more violent sports that first alerted some people to the fact that there was a real problem here….

“With every day even Google, Wikipedia and other online sources try to rewrite the past, erasing the real names of people who have ‘transitioned’ and pretending that they were always a woman. Or that at the most the person had been ‘assigned male at birth.’ As though this was the act of a bigoted and ignorant doctor who just wanted to screw with the certification procedure.

“Well, in Paris yesterday, we saw the illogical and evil endpoint of all this. Angela Carini, who has trained hard for years, managed just 46 seconds in the ring opposite Imane Khelif. The ‘fight’ consisted of Khelif punching Carini hard in the face — twice. It was unclear at first if the Italian’s nose had been broken. Clearly in agony Carini shouted ‘This is unjust.’ As the ref tried to make her shake hands with the ‘victorious’ Khelif, Carini rightly refused.”

Sadly, obviously being under pressure from superiors, Carini subsequently stated that she “wants to apologize” to her opponent for how she handled the moments after the fight, continuing, “”I’m sorry for my opponent, too. If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision.”

It’s a totally wrong decision by a woke IOC, and sorrow for Khelif is thoroughly misplaced. Khelif had no business competing in this women’s sport.

Macron Proud of Olympic Opening Ceremony

Reuters wrote on August 2:

“French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday offered his support to the artists behind the 2024 Olympic opening ceremony… and praised their ‘audacity’, adding that the show had made France proud. French authorities have opened an investigation into death threats targeting the artistic director of the ceremony Thomas Jolly, after he was harassed online over a tableau that appeared to parody Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece ‘The Last Supper’…

“Macron said: ‘His audacity did a lot of good to a lot of people… the ceremony showed that France respected artistic freedom.’”

God is most certainly not proud of what is happening in France during the Olympics. And THAT is what counts, not the unqualified opinion of a losing left-wing French President.

Vatican Finally Speaks Out

The New York Post wrote on August 4:

“The Vatican broke its silence Saturday on the controversial drag performance that mocked Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic ‘Last Supper’ painting during the 2024 Paris Olympics’ opening ceremony last week… ‘The Holy See was saddened by certain scenes at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games and cannot but join the voices raised in recent days to deplore the offense done to many Christians and believers of other religions,’ it said in an… evening press release…

“Olympics officials initially denied that the performance was based on Da Vinci’s painting — but a spokesperson later confirmed the painting was artistic director Thomas Jolly’s inspiration… At the center was an ornately dressed woman with a large silver headdress that resembled a halo as depicted in paintings of Jesus…”

The belated Vatican’s press release was rather tame and sounded almost apologetic.

Harris “Steals Nomination”, “Destroys Democracy”

Breitbart wrote on August 2:

“The Democratic National Committee (DNC) officially nominated Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s presidential candidate on Friday, alienating 14 million Democrats who voted for President Joe Biden during the Democrat primary. The DNC began its virtual roll call on Thursday to nominate Harris, preempting its convention later in August. The process was scheduled to take up until Monday, the Associated Press reported, but it finished days early…

“Harris was the only candidate eligible to receive votes after the party closed the qualifying process Tuesday. The expeditious coronation underscored the speed at which Democrats moved to coronate Harris, who received exactly zero presidential primary votes in her political career. Harris dropped out of the 2020 presidential race before the Iowa caucuses and did not enter the race in 2024 until Biden endorsed her.

“Speculation suggests Biden endorsed Harris to enact revenge on party bosses for threatening to oust him from the race with the Twenty-Fifth Amendment. Biden ‘privately’ and ‘repeatedly’ questioned the authenticity of Harris during the 2020 campaign.”

We are told that Harris and Trump are in a virtual tie. Some claim that Harris’ “success” is only temporary and will diminish once the honeymoon period is over. We will see.

Flip-Flopping Harris’ Word Salads…

Breitbart wrote on August 2: 

“Vice President Kamala Harris delivered one of her infamous word salads when speaking unscripted about Thursday’s prisoner swap with Russia… ‘This is just an extraordinary testament to the importance of having a president who understands the power of diplomacy and understands the strength that rests in understanding the significance of diplomacy,’ Harris rambled with a serious face while waving her hands: It was the second awkward statement in 24 hours. Harris accidentally called herself ‘president’ on Thursday…

“Perhaps the gaffes are why Harris appears to be avoiding questions from the media… Another reason Harris could be avoiding the media is out of fear of answering questions about her radical-left policies. The vice president already appears to be back-peddling on many policies, though the flip-flops were given by anonymous aides. Harris no longer supports ‘a federal job guarantee,’ an anonymous Harris campaign spokesperson told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday. The New York Times reported Monday, citing anonymous campaign officials, that she also now (1) supports fracking, (2) wants to increase funding for the border, (3) does not want to require people to sell their assault weapons back to the government, and (4) no longer supports ‘a single-payer health insurance program.’”

Is Harris trying to copy Biden with her gaffes? Her back-peddling is noticeable because, as we reported before, all the radical left-wing policies listed above were CLEARLY supported by Harris in the past… at least so she said. So is she now trying to deceive the voters?

Nancy Pelosi’s Abominable Hypocrisy

On August 5, the New York Post published the following commentary by Piers Morgan:

“It’s an open secret in Washington that Pelosi just did to Joe Biden what Marcus Brutus did to Julius Caesar. Of course, she didn’t actually kill him. But she did kill his political career. She appointed herself chief assassin, albeit one who continued to support him publicly while knifing him in the back behind the scenes…

“Yet on Sunday, there was his assassin, Nancy Pelosi, popping up on ‘CBS News Sunday Morning’ to call for him to be added to Mount Rushmore, the great American stone shrine to democracy that features 60-foot faces of four truly great American presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln…

“What Biden really knows is that one of his closest friends in politics, someone he’s known and worked with for 40 years, and who, like him, is a devout Roman Catholic who carries rosary beads in her pocket, pounced on him at his most vulnerable moment and devoured him like a ravenous jackal feasting on the still-twitching carcass of an elderly bison. And in that moment, Nancy Pelosi revealed who she really is — a ruthless, conniving, mercilessly disloyal female version of Marcus Brutus…

“There is no record, yet, of what Biden said as he realized his own game was up. But it wouldn’t surprise me, given their shared knowledge of Latin phraseology from their faith, if it was three simple words: ‘Et tu, Nancy?’”

Harris as President—Proof of the Perversity of Our Age?

The New York Post wrote on August 6:

“Harris has no personal following. Why should she? She wasn’t going anywhere. She has no entourage of trusted experts to enlighten her on the issues… Her personality, in public, is comical, and in private it hasn’t exactly been a magnet to party activists or intellectuals. By all accounts, her staff hate her and go running for the doors at the first opportunity. Her name isn’t closely identified with a particular cause or issue…

‘She’s a pretty terrible politician. She underperformed as a vote-getter in deep blue California. She self-detonated before the first primary when, in 2020, she sought the presidential candidacy on her own merits… she’s a wretched debater…

“Harris is like that feather in the wind at the end of ‘Forrest Gump.’ She’s a historical accident. That, in less than four months, she could be the most powerful human on Earth, decider between war and peace, her manicured fingers flitting casually over the nuclear button, fills me with awe and astonishment over the inscrutable perversity of our age.”

Kamala Harris’ Running Mate Tim Walz—a Radical Left-Wing Extremist?

The New York Post wrote on August 7:

“Tim Walz actually is a radical progressive — and he’s got the record to prove it…  His aggressive lockdowns of Minnesota during COVID included a hotline for Minnesotans to snitch on their neighbors… After Georg Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis cop, Walz sat by and watched his state’s largest city burn [by BLM]… A 2022 Walz bill to give ‘hero pay’ to frontline pandemic workers ended up paying thousands of dead people; an audit found that only 60% of recipients definitely qualified for the money… Walz himself had text messages mysteriously vanish in violation of public records laws…

“All of this has been amply reported in the Minnesota media. The national press doesn’t even need to investigate Walz. It just needs to read the coverage by its own local print and TV affiliates. After his party gained a one-seat majority in the state senate in 2022, Walz embraced nearly every insane idea it rammed through the legislature… Walz signed a law mandating ‘antiracist’ education in ‘ethnic studies’ in elementary, middle and high schools and compelling critical race theory training for teachers while forcing schools to record the race of every student who is given recess detentions to prevent ‘institutional racism.’ Meanwhile, nearly half of the state’s public school students can’t read at grade level.

“Walz made Minnesota a ‘refuge’ for … transgender surgeries on minors…  The state went so pro-abortion — enshrining a ‘fundamental right’ to abortion until the moment of birth — that it repealed laws requiring informed consent for abortions and even repealed the law making it illegal to coerce women into abortions…

“Minneapolis still struggles to hire cops, and has lost 40% of its police force since 2020. Walz raised gas, sales, payroll, car license, and online delivery taxes and fees to pay for it all… Given how the national press coverage of Harris has brushed aside her left-wing record and let her get away without answering questions or doing interviews, she must be hoping that Walz and his record will get the same treatment.”

Trump said that the Harris-Walz ticket will take the United States straight into communism if they win the 2024 election (The New York Post, dated August 7).

Why Walz Is “Weird”

The New York Post wrote on August 8:

“Let’s see how weird the Democrats’ new leadership is: 

“… It’s weird that Walz dawdled for three days while Minneapolis burned before calling in the National Guard during the 2020’s BLM-antifa riots…  It’s weird that Harris and Walz base their campaign on “freedom” yet he was the most authoritarian governor in the country during the pandemic, ruling by decree for 15 months, enforcing draconian shutdown orders, mask mandates and curfews. 

“It’s weird that Walz tells Republicans to ‘mind your own damn business’ when he created a COVID telephone ‘snitch line’ so that people could inform on their neighbors who breached his draconian COVID restrictions. It’s weird that Walz defended censorship of COVID dissenters by telling MSNBC: ‘There’s no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech especially around our democracy.’ It’s weird that Walz signed laws allowing teenagers to be sterilized and genitally mutilated without parental consent and called it ‘gender-affirming care.’ It’s weird that Walz signed into law a new definition of ‘sexual orientation’ that deleted an exemption against pedophilia. 

“It’s weird that Walz has turned Minnesota into a ‘trans refuge’ with a law that removes children from parents who don’t agree to their kids’ sex-change surgery and hormone treatment… It’s weird that Walz has turned Minnesota into an ‘abortion mecca’ with no time limit up to the moment of birth and sometimes beyond, and no requirement that minors inform their parents…”

Venezuela’s Debacle Caused by Biden Administration

Newsmax wrote on August 2:

“John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told Newsmax on Friday that the disputed presidential election in Venezuela was ‘largely’ caused by President Joe Biden’s administration. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro this week claimed victory in what the United States has called a ‘deeply flawed’ presidential election, the official results of which have been disputed by the country’s opposition party and independent observers.

“Bolton… said, ‘… What we’re seeing now is deja vu all over again. This is just like what happened in the 2018 election that Maduro stole back then. And now, six years later … he’s stealing it again.’ Bolton said the Trump administration ‘tried in 2018 and 2019 to support the opposition, Juan Guaido, we recognized as the president … as picked by the National Assembly pursuant to Venezuela’s constitution, but it was not enough’…

“Bolton said the Biden administration ‘made a huge mistake some months back’ by removing ‘the economic sanctions that were still in place under the guise of Maduro having a free and fair election.’ Bolton said, ‘It was never going to happen. So now we see the inevitable outcome.’…”

Can anyone believe the incompetence of the Biden Administration, including of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris? Trump suggested, with apparently good reason, that Harris is even more incompetent than Biden, if that was even possible.

Shutting Down Google?

Newsmax wrote on August 2:

“Former President Donald Trump suggested Congress could shut down Google for alleged bias and censorship. The Big Tech giant has been criticized for how its search engine performed with inquiries related to the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump. Google’s search bar and artificial intelligence tool would not produce results connected to the shooting.

“‘Google has been very bad. They’ve been very irresponsible. And I have a feeling that Google is going to be close to shut down because I don’t think Congress is going to take it. I really don’t think so,’ Trump told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo in an interview broadcast Friday. ‘Google has to be careful.’”

Terror Threats in Austria

Deutsche Welle reported on August 7:

”Taylor Swift’s promoter, Barracuda Music,  called off shows by the US performer in Vienna later this week after law enforcement in Austria announced the arrests of two people suspected of planning to attack the concert venue... Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer called the cancellation of the concerts a ‘bitter disappointment’ for Swift’s fans, albeit adding ‘the situation surrounding the apparent planned terror attack in Vienna was very serious.’… law enforcement had arrested two people, the primary suspect a 19-year-old male, on suspicion of planning ‘a terrorist attack against events in Vienna’… Taylor Swift concerts in Austria’s largest football stadium were among the main suspect’s potential targets…

“Police seized chemical substances from the main suspect’s apartment and had pre-emptively cleared houses and part of a nursing home nearby, fearing the potential for explosives to be present, the Interior Ministry said… both the suspects had become radicalized online and taken concrete steps looking to prepare attacks. The young man, he said, had pledged allegiance to the self-styled ‘Islamic State’ terror group…”

Israel to Be Attacked on Tisha B’Av?

The Jerusalem Post wrote on August 3:

“Iran reportedly plans to attack Israel on the day of Tisha B’Av, when Jews mourn the loss of the first and second Temples. Western intelligence sources told Sky News Arabia that they had evidence Iran plans to attack Israel on Tisha B’Av in response to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, which begins on August 12 and ends on August 13, the site reported on Friday. Iran’s attack will reportedly be coordinated with Hezbollah…

“On Tisha B’Av, Jews lament the destruction of the first and second Temples. During the annual event, there is fasting, mourning and a practice of self-denial… The report indicates that there is an emotional and psychological impact in targeting Israel on the holy day of mourning. The report claimed that Jewish Israelis may feel particularly vulnerable on this day – adding an additional layer of psychological torment…

“Enemy states and entities have focused their attacks on Jewish holidays in the past, as was the case on October 7, which fell on Simchat Torah [the Last Great Day, following the Feast of Tabernacles] and Shabbat, and the Yom Kippur [Day of Atonement] War in 1973. There is also reportedly a symbolic reason for attacking this date, reviving historical traumas and replaying the images of destruction. Finally, Iran allegedly hopes that attacking on this day would bring an element of surprise. While security may be occupied with their own religious rituals or settling disagreements, they may be unprepared for a military attack.”

Breitbart added on August 3:

“The Jerusalem Post reported speculation that Iran would attack on the Jewish holiday of Tisha B’Av, the Ninth of Av, a day of mourning on which the destruction of the First and Second Temples is commemorated by fasting… The State of Israel itself is sometimes referred to by Jews as the ‘Third Temple,’ an association that Iran is likely exploiting as a form of psychological warfare.”

A Bomb or a Rocket?

Deutsche Welle reported on August 3:

“Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed by a ‘short-range projectile’ launched from outside of his accommodation in Tehran, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said.  ‘This terrorist operation was carried out by firing a short-range projectile with a warhead of about 7 kilograms — causing a strong explosion — from outside the accommodation area,’ the Guards said in a statement.  The Guards again blamed Israel for [the] killing, adding that it was ‘supported by the United States.’…

“German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said the prospect of sending German soldiers to the Middle East to protect Israel was ‘completely inconceivable to me right now.’… The United States on Friday said that additional warships and fighter jets would be sent to the region to protect US forces and defend Israel.”

Earlier, it was reported, especially by the New York Times, that Haniyeh was killed by a remotely detonated bomb which had been smuggled into the compound where Haniyeh was staying. Inasmuch as the explosion became a source of tremendous embarrassment for the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps], a new explanation had to be given—that of a short-range projectile launched from the outside—to make the IRGC less culpable, and to blame Israel and the USA.

According to the Jewish Chronicle, Haniyeh was assassinated by Israel through the use of the bomb which “was placed on the day of the explosion, at 4:23 pm – some nine hours before it was activated when Haniyeh entered his room. The explosion, which was set off remotely by a robot, took place after midnight, at exactly 01:37 am local time.”

Russia Helping Iran With Military Hardware?

Hindustan Times wrote on August 4:

“Russian cargo planes carrying weapons are allegedly flying to Iran amid heightened tensions in the Middle East. Reports on August 4 suggested constant Russia-to-Iran cargo flights with military hardware. However, neither Russian nor U.S. authorities immediately reacted to the reports about the flights.

“Meanwhile, the U.S. is boosting military deployment in the Middle East to defend its ally Israel in case of an Iranian attack.”

Rabbi Arrested in Ireland for Circumcising

JTA wrote on August 2, 2024:

“Ireland’s small Jewish community is in turmoil after a British rabbi who had been hired to circumcise local babies was arrested and charged with practicing medicine without a license. The rabbi, Jonathan Abraham, was arrested on Tuesday and denied bail after a judge said that his 10 children and home base in London made him a flight risk. He faces up to five years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to £130,000 ($166,000). Ireland’s chief rabbi, Yoni Wieder, confirmed to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that Abraham remained jailed as Shabbat began in Dublin on Friday.

“Earlier, Wieder issued a statement saying that he was actively working to support Abraham and to make sure that Irish Jews continue to have access to a ritual considered essential in Jewish observance… The arrest comes at a sensitive time for Jews in Ireland, which has been home to intense pro-Palestinian sentiment during the Israel-Hamas war…

“Ireland permits mohels, or ritual circumcisers, to do circumcisions for Jews, but does not allow them to perform the same procedures on non-Jews.”

This world is becoming crazier and crazier. Anti-Semitism in Ireland is clearly on the rise… and not only there, of course.

Turmoil in the UK

Deutsche Welle reported on August 3:

“Riots erupted Friday evening for a third night in the United Kingdom, linked to a mass stabbing earlier in the week that killed three young girls… Some of the crowd shouted insults about Islam, while others chanted in support of Tommy Robinson, a far-right, anti-Islam campaigner and activist, local media reported.

“… far-right social media channels have been awash with false claims that the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat. Police have emphasized that the suspect, Axel Rudakubana, was born in Britain… Mosques across the country have also been put on an increased state of alert, the Muslim Council of Britain said.”

Daily Mail wrote on August 3:

“Widespread disruption has torn through the country this week in the wake of the Southport stabbings, where three little girls were tragically killed. The riots in cities including London and Hartlepool are thought to be triggered by misinformation spread online as to the identity of the teenager suspected of killing Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine. Axel Rudakubana, 17, who was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents, was eventually named as the suspect in a bid to stop the chaos. Southport locals – including Elsie’s mother – have desperately pleaded for the violence to stop to no avail…

“Sunderland residents woke up to carnage after riots tore through the city, setting a police station on fire and injuring officers in a night of ‘unforgivable thuggery’ which saw a Citizen’s Advice centre go up in flames…”

It was feared that civil unrest would be the outcome of the unfettered mass immigration that the UK has had to put up with in recent years. It’s been a tinderbox waiting to be lit for some time now.   The UK continues to deteriorate. These are sad times but foreseeable by some, but not by many politicians, it would appear. Note the analysis in the next articles.

Southport Riots Did Not Happen in a Vacuum

The Sun wrote on August 3:

“THIS week’s riots in Southport and elsewhere were, of course, reprehensible. To attack a mosque where ordinary Muslims go to pray would have been wrong even if it had been in response to an attack by Islamic terrorists. That those lobbing bricks at the police and setting their vehicles alight were acting on disinformation makes them look foolish as well as disgraceful. But if Britain’s liberal elite had been deliberately trying to drive people into the arms of the rabble-rousers they could not have done a better job of it. They have done everything they can to fuel the underlying sense that the white working class is being treated very differently from the rest of the population.

“On Thursday, the Prime Minister held a press conference in which he lost no time in asserting that the Southport riots were ‘clearly driven by far-right hatred’. He refused to acknowledge that any of those who took to the streets might have been motivated by reasonable concerns about the safety of children. No, each and every one of them were just ‘far-right’ thugs trying to spread hate. Nor, by the way, did Keir Starmer mention in his press conference other recent cases of public disorder which had nothing to do with the far right, such as the machete fight in Southend on Tuesday night, the attack on police at Manchester Airport last week nor the riots in the Harehills area of Leeds. Those equally concerning events don’t seem to feature even nearly as prominently on the radar of the liberal left because they don’t feed its preferred narrative that Britain is a happy, diverse community spoiled only by hate mongering on the part of the far right…

“The same seems to have happened on multiple occasions when working-class communities have protested, whether it be against low-traffic neighbourhoods, London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone or Covid lockdowns.

“All have been dismissed as being incited by ‘far-right’ conspiracy theorists…

“I haven’t heard anyone in power admit it, but there is an unfortunate backstory which may explain why people reacted to the killing of three girls (not to mention the injuries and mental trauma inflicted on many others) by seeking out a mosque. For years, police, social services and other agencies failed properly to investigate gangs of men of Pakistani heritage who had been raping and sexually exploiting girls in Rotherham, Rochdale and elsewhere. Again, it cannot be emphasised strongly enough that it is very wrong to project the crimes of the rapists on to Britain’s Pakistani population as a whole — that is the point at which legitimate demand for justice spills over into racism. But when these gangs were eventually brought to justice, it became clear from their trials that police and social services had been doing the opposite — they had been influenced by what the then Home Secretary Theresa May called ‘institutional political correctness’ in failing to take the victims’ allegations seriously enough. As the former Labour minister Denis MacShane put it ‘there was a culture of not wanting to rock the multicultural community boat’…

“If people feel they cannot trust what the police and other authorities do and say they will end up gravitating towards other voices who do appear to be representing their interests. Racists are to be condemned…

“But the Government needs to recognise that the Southport riots did not happen in a vacuum…”

Very well put. And this approach to blindness in the left eye can be seen all over the Western world, including in the USA.

Starmer Under Serious Attacks

Breitbart wrote on August 4:

“British Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer has vowed that police have his full support in taking on ‘extremists’ as anti-mass migration protests and riots have broken out across the United Kingdom following the mass stabbing at a children’s dance party in Southport earlier this week. Facing a full-blown crisis less than one month into office, recently elected leftist Prime Minister Starmer gathered top cabinet ministers on Saturday as unrest erupted in dozens of towns and cities throughout the UK, in many cases in typical Labour Party strongholds in the north of England, in response to the slaying of three young girls and the stabbing of eight others, including children, allegedly by a 17-year-old Rwandan-heritage second-generation immigrant on Monday…

“The hardline rhetoric from the left-wing PM, who has characterised the protests and riots as ‘far-right,’  on the outpouring of rage and violence has been contrasted to his response during the deadly and deeply destructive Black Lives Matter riots in 2020, when he infamously took the knee in solidarity with the Marxist movement and described those involved as ‘people rightly demanding justice’. The government has also faced criticism for refusing to discuss footage posted on social media appearing to show violent responses from large groups of Muslim or leftist counter protesters.

“The prime minister’s response to his first crisis of his expected five-year term has been heavily criticised by the Reform UK party of Nigel Farage, who accused Starmer of failing to address the root cause of the anger, which is mass migration. On Friday, Farage’s deputy, Boston and Skegness MP Richard Tice, said, ‘Many millions of concerned British citizens are furious at lawless Britain. Children being slaughtered. Machete mobs abound. Soldiers being stabbed. Police violently attacked in airports. Instead of empathy, Keir Starmer labelled folk as “far-right”. Out of touch, clueless.’

“However, others have demanded that the government go farther, including Tory leadership candidate and former Home Secretary Priti Patel, who has called on Starmer to recall Parliament to hold an emergency session on the unrest. One of the more extreme takes on the crisis came from former Labour MP and current government advisor on political violence, Baron Walney, John Woodcock, who argued that the government should consider a coronavirus-style lockdown to stamp out the uprising if it continues to persist…”

Incredible. Some left-wing politicians stop at nothing when it involves suppression of freedom and liberty of their citizens.

The Public Wants Answers!

Express wrote on August 4:

“Prime Minister Starmer has been urged by the Tory chairwoman of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners to acknowledge the widespread discontent which she says is fuelling protests across the UK this week.

“In remarks initially shared on her organisation’s website, Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones said it was time for an honest discussion about the underlying factors. Her statement, which appeared to have been deleted from the site, was today shared by the Conservative Post website and triggered criticism from Liberal Democrat MP for Winchester Danny Chambers and Former chief prosecutor Nazir Afzal.

“She said: ‘The government must acknowledge what is causing this civil unrest in order to prevent it. Arresting people, or creating violent disorder units, is treating the symptom and not the cause.’

“The questions these people want answering; what is the government’s solution to mass uncontrolled immigration? How are the new Labour government going to uphold and build on British values? This is the biggest challenge facing Sir Kier Starmer’s government, and its bitten quickly.’

A challenge Britain’s left-wing government is most certainly not willing to address.

UK on the Way to Censorship and Dictatorship?

Daily Mail wrote on August 7:

“Social media chiefs are also under fire for allowing disinformation to flourish after the Southport attack, including false claims about the identity of the suspect. Amid the worst rioting in the UK for more than a decade, the PM has warned that anyone stoking violence on the internet can be prosecuted and face prison. Sir Keir has also engaged in a war of words with Elon Musk… over the riots. But one of his most senior ministers, Technology Secretary Peter Kyle, has admitted the world’s richest man is ‘accountable to no one’…

“Mr Musk used his X social media site to reply to a post that blamed ‘mass migration and open borders’ for unrest in the UK. Mr Musk… claimed ‘civil war is inevitable’ following the violence in the UK.  He also branded the PM as ‘Two Tier Keir’… [as it is claimed that] UK police treat some groups more harshly than others…

“Sir Thomas Winsor, who previously served as Her Majesty’s chief inspector of constabulary, rejected Mr Musk’s suggestion of ‘two-tier policing’ in the UK… He also demanded that major tech firms should have to be licensed before they can operate in the UK. This would allow a regulator to put firms ‘out of business’ if they breach the terms of their licence, he said. Sir Thomas called for ‘criminal liability’ for top bosses at social media companies who tolerate ‘harmful material’ and an incitement of crimes on their sites…”

Sounds like communist China or Russia.

Breitbart added on August 7:

“Musk has effectively embodied the role of chief troll of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, branding the leftist leader as ‘Two Tier Keir,’ over allegations that the British government has been policing violence and riots from mostly working class white British men differently than the Muslim community in the country, which has also taken to the streets en masse over the past week in large and sometimes violent gangs. Responding to Starmer’s vow that his government will ‘not tolerate attacks on mosques or on Muslim communities,’ Musk replied on his social media platform: ‘Shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on all communities?’

“Musk has also highlighted the history of British authorities overlooking criminality among Muslim populations, including the Rotherham grooming gang scandal, in which at least 1,400 young girls were systemically sexually abused and trafficked by members of the city’s Pakistani community for years. The local authorities knew about the issue, but ignored them over fears of ‘racial tensions’ that could stem from arresting minority-community paedophiles. Musk questioned whether such crimes were still being committed and overlooked in Britain…

“… the Tesla chief suggested that civil war in England was ‘inevitable’ given the cross-party multi-decade agenda of allowing ‘incompatible cultures’ to be ‘brought together without assimilation’ through the importation of millions of foreigners into the country…

“The fervour of the new Labour government to clamp down on social media may foreshadow a legal battle with Elon Musk’s X and other firms. Last year, the Conservative-in-name-only government of Rishi Sunak passed the Online Safety Act, vastly expanding the state’s ability to police the internet. While the law has yet to come into effect, it will empower British broadcasting regulator Ofcom to impose fines of up to £18 million ($22 million) or 10 per cent of global annual turnover, depending on which is higher, against social media companies that fail to censor to the standards of the British government. The impending restrictions could see free speech vastly curtailed in the UK and potentially even see companies like X choose to withdraw entirely from the country.”

Lessons for Germany?

Nius wrote on August 5:

“If in Great Britain, where people are generally very friendly and open-minded towards strangers, anger over immigration policy erupts as it currently does in cities from London and Liverpool to Manchester to Leeds and Bristol, all alarm bells should ring in Germany too. What is currently driving people onto the streets is not just the triple murder in Southport…

“Migrants from the Islamic world and Africa in particular stand out due to their low educational qualifications, high crime rates and lack of willingness to integrate. A phenomenon that is known in other European countries such as Sweden, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and Austria, where the problems are the same and where politics, as in Great Britain, did a lot to downplay the fatal consequences of unchecked migration. Parallel societies, gang wars, the growing influence of Islam and increasing anti-Semitism are just some of the obvious problems…

“There are around four million Muslims living in Great Britain, and in Germany there are probably at least six million. To a large extent, they put a strain on the social systems here and there, and the lower classes in particular bear the direct consequences of mass immigration: the newcomers settle in their neighborhoods, which is reflected in the situation at schools and in the eroding security in public spaces. Ordinary people compete with migrants for living space and jobs, and the more immigrants come, especially from Islamic cultural areas, the more the feeling of being at home in their place of residence disappears. A forced cultural and social change that is bound to cause bad blood sooner or later…

 “In Hamburg, for example, houses were built according to the latest standards just for ‘refugees’, while people who have ‘lived here for a long time’… and who are paying for the astronomically high costs of migration with their tax money are desperately looking for apartments. At the same time, they notice how Muslims reject our society, demonstrating in tens of thousands on our streets and squares for the terrorist Hamas or calling for the caliphate. This can’t go well in the medium term…”

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.

The Bible uses the concept of “God’s Work” or the “Work of God” in many different ways. But as we will see, they all harmonize or complement each other; there is no contradiction. We will show how great God is and how His masterplan is being worked out here below.  

In this first installment, we will begin to address God’s Work in the context of the prophetic revival of the ancient Roman Empire in Europe and, in connection therewith, the preaching of the gospel in the world as a witness, because both concepts are necessary to lead to the soon-coming return of Jesus Christ to establish God’s Kingdom here on earth.

In our free booklet, “Evil Empires and Evil People—Wild Beasts of the Bible,”  we state the following:

“In Daniel 7, four great world-ruling empires (called ‘kingdoms’ in Daniel 2 and 7) are described, which are seen by Daniel in a vision as four wild beasts…  When Daniel saw the vision, only the first empire was in existence—the Babylonian Empire, which was symbolized as a lion (verse 4). It was to be followed by the Medo-Persian Empire, which was symbolized as a bear (verse 5). It, in turn, was to be replaced by the Greco-Macedonian Empire, which was symbolized by a leopard with four heads and four wings (verse 6). In his vision, Daniel also saw a fourth vicious beast with ten horns (verse 7). Although the exact identity of that beast is not revealed, nor is it identified by name, it is unanimously accepted by biblical scholars and historians that the fourth empire, which subdued the third beast, represents the Roman Empire. It was to exist, through numerous revivals, until the return of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of God here on earth (verses 19–27).

“After its fall, the Roman Empire would be revived ten times. Revelation 13 describes the Roman Empire as a beast with seven heads and ten horns. Quoting from our free booklet, ‘The Mysteries of the Book of Revelation’: ‘The beast with the seven heads and ten horns was like a leopard, with feet of a bear and a mouth of a lion (Revelation 13:2)… Comparing [the] four beasts in the book of Daniel [chapter 7] with the one beast in Revelation 13, we can see that the beast in Revelation is a conglomeration of those four beasts in Daniel. It has seven heads, because it combines the head of the lion, the head of the bear, the four heads of the leopard, and the head of the fourth beast with ten horns.’

“As mentioned, virtually all Bible scholars confirm the historical fact that the fourth beast in Daniel 7 was the Roman Empire. The beast in Revelation 13 describes the continuation of the Roman Empire, through its ten revivals.  Continuing with quoting from our booklet: ‘According to Daniel 7:24, ten kings were to arise out of the Roman Empire… the beast or the Roman Empire would have ten successive resurrections or revivals… The first three resurrections or revivals of the Roman Empire after its fall occurred under Geiseric of the Vandals; Odoacer of the Heruli; and Theodoric of the Ostrogoths… The actual ‘healing’ of the deadly wound [compare Revelation 13:3] signifies the fourth resurrection of the ancient Roman Empire, which occurred in 554 A.D., when Justinian, who was heavily influenced by his Roman Catholic wife, defeated the Ostrogoths and marched into Rome. He united the Eastern and Western parts of the ancient Roman Empire and restored the entire Empire…

“‘The fifth resurrection occurred under Charlemagne in 800 A.D.; the sixth under Otto the Great in 962 A.D.; the seventh under Charles V of Hapsburg in 1530 A.D.; and the eighth under Napoleon (which lasted from 1804 A.D. until 1814 A.D., when Napoleon abdicated at the battle of Leipzig). Following Napoleon, two more resurrections were to occur, as the fourth beast in Daniel 7 and the beast in Revelation 13 had TEN horns.

“‘The ninth resurrection happened under Mussolini and Hitler. We are observing right now the beginning of the tenth and final resurrection of the ancient Roman Empire in continental Europe…’

“The last seven revivals of the ancient Roman Empire would be a unification between church and state (compare Revelation 17). The last revival, under the beast and the false prophet, will only last for a very short time, and it and its leaders will be destroyed by the returning Jesus Christ ‘and given to the burning flame’ (Daniel 7:11)… When Christ returns, the final revival of the Roman Empire (the fourth beast of Daniel 7) which is also called ‘Babylon,’ will be burned with fire (Revelation 17:16; 18:8–9)—as will be the human leaders (Revelation 19:20).”

With this background, let us now address the question what this has to do with the Work of God. We know from Revelation 13:2 that it is Satan, the dragon, who gives his power and authority to the beast—the Revived Roman Empire and the final leader of that Empire, and we also read in Revelation 9:11 that the final revival will have over it, as their king, “the angel of the bottomless pit,” whose name is, in English, Destruction and Destroyer. This describes Satan as well. Still, Satan can only do what God allows, and even though many times God does not presently intervene in human affairs, He will do so when He must make sure that His masterplan will be fulfilled. And the final rise of the ancient Roman Empire and its conduct in the end time IS part of His prophesied masterplan—His “Work.”

Continuing with quoting from our free booklet, “Evil Empires and Evil People—Wild Beasts of the Bible,”:

“An interesting reference to the beast—especially the final revival of the ancient Roman Empire—can be found in the book of Habakkuk which deals with the modern Chaldeans or Assyrians.

“Isaiah 23:13 tells us that the ancient Assyrians founded the land of the Chaldeans. And so, it will be the modern Assyrians—mainly the German-speaking peoples—who will lead the final resurrection of the ‘Holy Roman Empire’ (For instance, as we have seen, the German Otto the Great and the Austrian Charles V. were previous emperors of the ‘Holy Roman Empire’ or ‘the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.’ Arguably this is also true for Charlemagne or Charles the Great, who was crowned as Emperor in the German city of Aachen and who is viewed by the Germans as a German, by the French as a Frenchman, and by the Belgians as a Belgian. In addition, the collaboration of the Austrian Adolf Hitler and the Italian Benito Mussolini with several popes constituted the sixth revival of the ‘Holy Roman Empire’).

“In ancient times, the Chaldeans were Babylon’s religious leaders, astrologers and magicians. Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible says about the ancient Chaldeans: ‘A people still of late mean and low, famous only for their soothsaying, divination, and judicial astrology; but now become a powerful and warlike people, rising up under the permission of Providence to universal monarchy, and who would quickly add Judea to the rest of their dominions…’

“Even though a partial fulfillment of Habakkuk’s entire prophecy can be seen in ancient Judah’s captivity through the Babylonians, due to Judah’s transgressions (compare verse 4), Habakkuk’s prophecy of Babylonian warfare is clearly awaiting an end-time fulfillment…

“Habakkuk 1:5–10 reads as follows: ‘Look among the nations and watch–Be utterly astonished! For I will work a work in your days Which you would not believe, though it were told you. For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans, A bitter and hasty nation Which marches through the breadth of the earth, To possess dwelling places that are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful… They all come for violence… They gather captives like sand. They scoff at kings…’”

This statement is critically important to understand. God says that HE will WORK A WORK in our time—the WORK of raising up the modern Chaldeans for the purpose of attacking and destroying the modern descendants of the Houses of Israel and Judah.

In our free booklet, “The Rise and Fall of Germany and Europe“, we say:

“In Habakkuk’s days, God used the ancient Chaldeans to punish Israel. In our time, God will use the modern Chaldeans to punish the Houses of Israel and Judah. The Chaldeans were the backbone of the Neo-Babylonian Empire (Ezra 5:12; 2 Kings 25:1, 5; 2 Chronicles 36:17). In Daniel 2, the word is also applied to the Babylonian priestly class, who also engaged in divination, astrology, and magic or sorcery. In Babylon’s sphere of influence, the Chaldeans also had a religious function—mainly because the planetary orbits were interpreted as the expression of the will of deities that had to be fathomed.

“In late antiquity, the name Chaldeans was used almost exclusively for the Babylonians and became primarily a designation for astrologers, since Babylon was considered a leader in the field of astrology. The ‘Chaldean Oracles’ of the 2nd century were considered a popular book of divination. They also believed very strongly in the power of demons…

“In our time, the Chaldeans describe modern Babylon—a religious, political, economic and military power. It is the final and last resurrection of the ancient Roman Empire—a collaboration between church and state—under the leadership of a charismatic leader—the beast or the king of the North or King Jareb of (modern) Assyria who will work together with the ‘false prophet’—a powerful religious leader. Under the beast’s leadership and the influence of the false prophet, the modern Chaldeans will invade ‘dwelling places that are not theirs’ (Habakkuk 1:6). This occupying force under the modern Assyrian leader is also described in Isaiah 10:13–14 and in Daniel 11:41–44. In a way, the final resurrection of the Roman Empire occurs because of Israel’s wickedness (compare also Isaiah 10:6).”

In the next installment, we will discuss in more detail how God will use the coming King of Assyria to punish the Houses of Israel and Judah—as being part of God’s end-time Work. To be clear, unless these prophesied events were to occur, Jesus Christ could NOT RETURN.

For now, let us mention one other aspect of God’s end-time Work, which we alluded to before, and which must likewise be fulfilled in order to make Christ’s Return possible.

In our free booklet “Evil Empires and Evil People—Wild Beasts of the Bible,” we point out that Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, later quoted the passage in Habakkuk 1:5–10, referring to God’s raising up modern Chaldeans to punish the Houses of Israel and Judah, but he gives it an additional all-important meaning and application. We state:

“Paul later quoted these words and applied them as a warning to the people in his time and age who would reject the gospel message. We read in Acts 13:32–41: ‘And we declare to you glad tidings–that promise which was made to the fathers. God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He raised up Jesus… David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption; but He whom God raised up saw no corruption. Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. BEWARE therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets COME UPON YOU: ‘Behold, you despisers, Marvel and perish! For I work a work in your days, A work which you will by no means believe, Though one were to declare it to you.’”

Note that Paul applies Habakkuk’s prophecy of doing an “unbelievable” Work in our days, to the preaching of the gospel, including the all-important role of Jesus Christ as the Savior of mankind, and also including a warning of not rejecting that message and of impending national disaster in these last days. Continuing:

“God said through Habakkuk that His Work—the end-time preaching of the gospel—would be powerful, but short. Romans 9:28 confirms this, saying: ‘For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Because the LORD will make a SHORT WORK upon the earth.’

“The Bible prophesies that at the time when the powerful preaching of the gospel message is being revived, modern Chaldea or Babylon will rise once again in Europe as the seventh and very SHORT-lived resurrection of the ancient ‘Holy Roman Empire’—a combination of church and state—when the (religious) fallen woman will be once more riding the (political and military) beast (compare Revelation 17, especially verses 10 and 12). God will use modern Babylon in a literal SWIFT blitzkrieg to punish the modern houses of Israel and Judah for their transgressions (compare also Isaiah 29:13–14). But God will then punish modern Babylon (Habakkuk 2:8)—a system less righteous than modern Israel and Judah (compare Habakkuk 1:12–13).”

When we see the rise of the final revival of the ancient Roman Empire in Europe under a charismatic political and military leader of German or Austrian descent, God’s Church will be busy, with renewed strength, to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God in all the world as a witness, and then the end of this present evil civilization will come (Matthew 24:14). As God’s WORK of reviving the final resurrection of the Roman Empire will be short-lived, and as modern Babylon will act swiftly, so God’s WORK of preaching the gospel, through His Church, will also be short-lived, and God will even cut it short and finish it in righteousness. It is therefore extremely important to understand what God expects of all of us in His Church today—in these end times—just prior to Christ’s return.

(To be continued)

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

compiled by Dave Harris

“The Middle East in Turmoil Again!” is the title of a recent StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is the summary:

The Middle East seems to be always in trouble, but this time, it’s different. Not only because of the many enemies surrounding and attacking Israel, including Iran and the many terrorist organizations under Iran’s leadership, but also because of NATO member Turkey’s abominable actions under President Erdogan. While he is threatening the invasion of Israel, NATO remains silent, and Germany is still considering him as a “valuable friend.” Bible prophecy has much to say about Germany’s and Turkey’s aggressive conduct towards Israel, which will lead to total disaster for all parties concerned.

“Why the Riots in the UK?” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is the summary:

The widespread riots in Southport, England, and throughout the country did not happen in a vacuum. They were predictable, but most politicians were willfully ignorant and did not want to face reality. It appears that Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his government are still not willing to address the true causes. What are the lessons other countries can learn from these events, especially the USA?

A new AufPostenStehen program, presented by Norbert Link, covers the same topic. Title in German:  “Warum die Unruhen im Vereinigten Königreich?”

A new Member Letter (August 2024) has been written. Elder Frank Bruno writes about our unique opportunity to have membership in the Body of Christ—the Church of God.

“Many Are Called But Few Are Chosen,” is the title of our newest booklet, which has now been sent to the printer in preparation for distribution.

“Sind Sie überrascht von der Feuerprobe?” last Sabbath’s German sermonette by Robert Muhr, is now posted. Title in English: “Are You Surprised by the Trial by Fire?”

“Comfortable With the Uncomfortable,” last Sabbath’s sermonette presented by Michael Link, is now posted. Here is the summary:

God’s laws are considered “uncomfortable” for everyone who doesn’t want to obey Him. But if we obey God and keep ALL His commandments and know what God promises to all those who believe and are diligent, then this is how we can be “comfortable.”

“Why Will God Soon Plague Mankind?” last Sabbath’s sermon presented by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is the summary:

A terrible time full of plagues is prophesied for this world. It is called the Day of the Lord in the Bible—a period of time that reveals God’s wrath towards humanity. But why are both the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ, so angry that they will pour out terrible plagues on the people of the end times?  And how can that be when God is personified love? What is the ultimate purpose of the plagues of God on the Day of the Lord?