On March 26, 2022, Norbert Link will present, “Comments on News and Prophecy, March 26, 2022,” and Kalon Mitchell will present the sermon, titled, “Choose Your Sacrifice.”
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.
The Associated Press wrote on March 18:
“Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared at a huge flag-waving rally at a Moscow stadium Friday and praised his country’s troops in biblical terms as they rained lethal fire on Ukraine’s cities…. Moscow police said more than 200,000 people were in and around the Luzhniki stadium for the celebration marking the eighth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula, seized from Ukraine.
“The event included patriotic songs, including a performance of ‘Made in the U.S.S.R.,’ with the opening lines ‘Ukraine and Crimea, Belarus and Moldova, it’s all my country.’
“Seeking to portray the war as just, Putin paraphrased the Bible to say of Russia’s troops: ‘There is no greater love than giving up one’s soul for one’s friends.’ And he continued to insist his actions were necessary to prevent ‘genocide,’ a claim flatly denied by leaders around the globe.”
The Sun added on March 18:
“During the speech, Putin promised the tens of thousands of people waving Russian flags that all the Kremlin’s aims would be achieved… He told the crowd: ‘We know what we need to do, how to do it and at what cost. And we will absolutely accomplish all of our plans.’…
“He said the soldiers fighting in Russia’s ‘special military operation’ had highlighted the unity of the country. ‘Shoulder to shoulder, they help each other, support each other and when needed they shield each other from bullets with their bodies like brothers. Such unity we have not had for a long time,’ he said…
“According to the BBC, many people said they worked in the public sector and they had been pressured into attending by their employers. ‘Many seemed embarrassed or ashamed to be there,’ BBC producer Will Vernon said.”
Just the same as at Hitler’s big rallies when many were forced or misled to attend. And while Hitler did not quote the Bible, he spoke repeatedly of “fate” (“Vorsehung”) which “protected” him.
CNBC wrote on March 18:
“… analysts have warned that President Vladimir Putin may be considering his next target: Moldova… Moldova, like Ukraine, is not part of the European Union, nor is it a member of NATO — though it has ambitions to join both. But, like Ukraine, the former Soviet republic is home to a sizeable pro-Russian separatist population based primarily in the breakaway state of Transnistria on the Ukrainian border. Governed by its own Kremlin-backed leader, Transnistria could present a strategic opportunity for Russia, which has already amassed some 1,500 troops in the area.
“Either Putin could recognize it as an independent state — as he did with Donetsk and Luhansk before launching a full-blown invasion of Ukraine — or it could become the focus point of a so-called false flag event, manufactured by Russia to justify an intervention… if Russia were to take that path, it would spell further hardship, not least for Moldova’s 2.6 million residents and the 350,000 migrants from Ukraine who have fled there… The country — one of Europe’s poorest on a GDP per capita basis — has much less military capability than Ukraine.
“An invasion of Moldova could therefore open a back door into southwest Ukraine… If that were to happen, Moldova could face a fate similar to that of Ukraine, locked in conflict with a global superpower while Western allies watch from the sidelines… without being an EU or NATO member, neither organization is likely to help substantially…”
The Sun wrote on March 18:
“It seems the Russian dictator is becoming increasingly paranoid behind the scenes, fearing someone in his own inner sanctum could poison him. Boris Karpichkov, a former KGB spy now living in exile in the UK, said Putin is now ‘completely losing his mind” over the state of the Ukraine war… ‘He turned out to be a psychopath really heavily obsessed with paranoid ideas and conspiracy theories against himself and about nonexistent threats Russia allegedly faces from the rest of the world.’…
“Mr Karpichkov said: ‘Putin doesn’t care and has already started literally marching over dead bodies under his feet – regardless of whether corpses belong to Ukrainians, or to his own Russian fellow citizens… Based on the fact that Putin is now using barbaric cluster bombs and missiles and using these horrible weapons against civilians, this is a sign Putin is completely losing his patience and his mind… What’s going on with Putin and what’s inside his head cannot be explained…’
“Already an unusually paranoid leader, Putin is now said to have ordered a team of people to taste his food before he eats it over fears he could be wiped out by a deadly concoction. A source told the Daily Beast contributing editor Craig Copetas that the Russian leader has also replaced his entire personal staff of 1,000 people... Putin has made several strongly-worded appearances on Russian state TV since the war started, denouncing Russians who opposed his war with Ukraine as ‘scum’ and ‘traitors’ [This is Stalin-like language.]….
“It comes after a former Russian deputy prime minister spoke out against the Kremlin’s actions in Ukraine. Arkady Dvorkovich, deputy prime minister from 2012 to 2018, became one of Russia’s most senior figures to question the war when he said his thoughts were with Ukrainian civilians under bombardment. Thousands of people have been detained for protesting against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine…”
The Guardian wrote on March 20:
“Authorities in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol have said Russian troops have forcibly deported several thousand residents to Russia, as reports emerged that Russian forces bombed an art school in the city where 400 people were taking shelter. ‘Over the past week, several thousand Mariupol residents were deported on to the Russian territory,’ the city council said in a statement on its Telegram channel late on Saturday. ‘The occupiers illegally took people from the Livoberezhniy district and from the shelter in the sports club building, where more than a thousand people (mostly women and children) were hiding from the constant bombing.’… the council’s statement is one of several reports about Mariupol residents being taken to Russia…
“RIA Novosti agency, citing emergency services, reported last week that nearly 300,000 people, including some 60,000 children, had arrived in Russia from the Luhansk and Donbas regions, including from Mariupol, in recent weeks….”
Express wrote on March 20:
“Putin has ‘finally agreed’ he will need to meet with Ukrainian president… Zelenskyy in person [‘at some point’] to resolve the ongoing conflict in Ukraine… Speaking to BBC’s Broadcasting House, [BBC correspondent Lysa] Doucet said: ‘… He hasn’t said it in public, he says quite the opposite in public… The Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet is very busy, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is very busy. They’ve said privately their understanding is that President Putin will meet President Zelensky when the time is right. But the time is not right now.’…
“Turkey’s Foreign Minister said Russia and Ukraine were nearing agreement on ‘critical’ issues and he was hopeful for a ceasefire if the two sides did not backtrack from progress achieved so far.”
Ultimately, Ukraine and Russia will collaborate together against Europe.
Russia responded to Joe Biden’s assertion about Putin being a war criminal, saying: “Given such irritability from Mr. Biden, his fatigue and sometimes forgetfulness…fatigue that leads to aggressive statements, we will not make harsh assessments, so as to not cause more aggression.” Shameful.
But equally shameful is the following, as reported by the Guardian on February 18:
“Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has praised Fox News for its coverage, appearing on the Russian state-controlled RT network to hail the right-leaning US cable channel, whose primetime host Tucker Carlson has played down the invasion…. ‘If you take the United States, only Fox News is trying to present some alternative point of view,’ he said… Russian media regularly play clips of Carlson criticizing the US and Ukraine, and he was still praising President Vladimir Putin hours before Russia invaded Ukraine almost four weeks ago. In contrast, as Moscow’s bombardment escalated, Russian apologism by numerous Fox hosts, commentators and guests was being corrected on air by the network’s own national security correspondent, Jennifer Griffin.
“The mental split-screen effect only sharpened earlier this week when a Fox news team on the ground in Ukraine came under Russian fire on the frontline. Cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and producer Oleksandra Kuvshynova were both killed during a Russian attack outside the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. Correspondent Benjamin Hall was badly wounded in the incident.”
Newsmax added on March 18:
“Since the onset of the war, Fox’s Tucker Carlson has become a media star in Russia… Carlson has long been a critic of supporters of Ukraine and Biden’s support of the Zelenskyy government. U.S. media across the political spectrum has criticized Carlson for suggesting the Biden administration is permitting a war between Russia and Ukraine in an effort to ‘grab more power’…
“Carlson has repeatedly claimed that Ukraine is not a democracy, and has blamed NATO for the war by expanding near Russia’s border… ‘At exactly the moment when the emergency powers they awarded to themselves to fight COVID started to wane, our leaders began pushing for conflict with Russia,’ Carlson said on his program last Friday.
“Dick Morris said Fox’s Carlson coverage of the war has been ‘an outrage against all that America stands [for].’ The Newsmax commentator and former Fox News contributor said, ‘Roger Ailes, the founding chairman of the network, must be rolling over in his grave. Ailes was above all else a patriot.’”
Carlson’s reporting has also been matched by other outlets in the USA, such as the Ron Paul Institute, making the same dubious allegations. Certain Putin-friendly and anti-Zelenskyy outlets in Germany and Austria are even worse, containing most outlandish unproven accusations or implications, including, for instance, “Wochenblick” and “Report 24.” This is so regrettable, as they did a fairly good job in covering controversial governmental restrictions in response to the Corona pandemic.
Christian Today wrote on March 21:
“There are fears that the persecution of Christians will increase if Russia widens its control over Ukraine… In parts of Ukraine already under Russian separatist control, many Protestant churches have been closed and some Christian books have been banned.
“Donetsk and Luhansk in the disputed Donbas region have been under the control of pro-Russian separatists since 2014… In Luhansk, a Religion Law passed in 2018 required churches to re-register with the authorities… Since then, the authorities have refused to register all Protestant, Baptist and Pentecostal congregations. In March 2019, Baptist Union churches were threatened with punishment if they did not suspend public worship.
“Raids have been carried out on places of worship and the congregations of unregistered churches have been denied access to their buildings or had the water, gas and electricity supply cut off. The Luhansk authorities have also banned 12 Christians books on an ‘extremist material’ list… These include an 1820 edition of the Gospel of John, a Baptist hymnbook, and books by Charles Spurgeon and Billy Graham.”
Euractiv wrote on March 21:
“Vladimir Putin demands the ‘denazification’ of Ukraine. But under Putin, Russia has turned into a totalitarian state strikingly reminiscent of Nazi Germany… Since Putin came to power, Stalinism has been whitewashed and Stalinist crimes have become taboo… History has been conveniently re-written… Putin’s propagandists make it simple: The ‘collective West’ is some sort of heir to Nazism, and its goal is the destruction of Russia.
“Accordingly, the main threat for Russia today comes from Ukraine, where neo-Nazi organisations, such as the Azov battalion, purportedly with 900 soldiers, have been given free rein. They are also told that a far-right Ukrainian politician from the period of WWII, Stepan Bandera, is being glorified…
“When I interviewed the Russian Ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov on the second day of war, I asked him to specify who the Nazis in Ukraine were. He said it was those who marched with a Nazi salute and who glorified Bandera. I asked him if Russia would then come to invade my country, Bulgaria, under the same excuse. As in any other country I know, Bulgaria’s far-right movements can rightly be called neo-Nazi. He said no, because, at least, in his words, Bulgaria has not erected monuments to neo-Nazis. (He didn’t say what I expected – that Russia would not attack us because we are in NATO.) But what is interesting is that in Bulgaria, the parties that can be described as neo-Nazis are today marching with banners glorifying Vladimir Putin.
“Historically the oldest of them is Ataka of Volen Siderov. Siderov, who has used symbols of pro-Nazi Bulgarian organisations from WWII, has been called by the German press ‘Putin’s man in Bulgaria.’ He rushed to recognise Crimea’s annexation in 2014…
“Led by Kostadin Kostadinov, a younger version of Siderov, Vazrazhdane… call themselves ‘the only true patriots’… their ideology can be described as national-socialist (Nazi), and they are now represented in parliament. Every day, Kostadinov and his MPs make speeches supporting Putin, against NATO, and Bulgaria’s country’s membership of the alliance. Kostadinov even said he would ‘de-Nazify’ Bulgaria, whatever that means…
“When we watch Putin’s recent rally on the occasion of the eighth anniversary of the annexation of Crimea, we cannot fail to think about Nazi rallies from the 1930s…”
Politico added on March 21:
“For years, Bulgaria has played a cautious double act, trying to balance itself between East and West and not anger Moscow. While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 united Europe in condemning the war, the conflict has exacerbated old divisions within Bulgarian politics and society….
“Ties between Russia and Bulgaria — a member of both the EU and NATO — run deep, with the countries sharing historic, religious, and cultural ties… Because of Russian clout in Bulgaria, some see the Balkan country as Moscow’s Trojan Horse in the EU…
“Internal coalition squabbles also erupted shortly after Putin launched his assault on Ukraine on February 24. In Sofia, the parliament moved to approve a declaration condemning the war. After hours of debates the Socialists did not support the part of the declaration referring to sanctions. The only other party which did not sign the declaration was Revival, a far-right party and currently one of the most vocal Kremlin supporters. It’s not surprising that Kostadin Kostadinov, the party’s leader, is nicknamed Kopeckin, after the Russian coin…. many Bulgarians tend to see Russia very favorably — indeed Bulgaria’s the country where Moscow gets the highest approval ratings — 73 percent…
“Bulgaria has been a fertile testing ground for Russian propaganda and conspiracy theories for years… Still, experts predict that the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine could force moderate pro-Russian sympathizers to reconsider their loyalties. A recent poll… shows that only four days after Russia invaded Ukraine, the approval of Putin dropped to 32 percent, compared with 55 in July 2021.”
Breitbart wrote on March 19:
“Pope Francis said… that the war in Ukraine proves how savage human beings can be, up to the point of becoming ‘murderers of our brothers.’ ‘We think of so many soldiers who are sent to the front, very young, Russian soldiers, poor things,’ Francis said. ‘Think of the many young Ukrainian soldiers; think of the inhabitants, the young people, the young girls, boys, girls’…
“‘A war is always — always! — the defeat of humanity, always,’ he said. ‘There is no such thing as a just war: they do not exist!’
“It is not clear how the pope’s assertion that just wars do not exist squares with Catholic teaching on just wars. The Catechism of the Catholic Church… lays out a series of conditions necessary to justify the use of military force, summing up the teachings articulated by Saint Augustine of Hippo and Saint Thomas Aquinas.
“It states that ‘the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain; all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective; there must be serious prospects of success; the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. These are the traditional elements enumerated in what is called the “just war” doctrine,’ the Catechism declares.”
Even though the pope is absolutely right in stating that wars, fought by humans, can never be just, it must be emphasized that he is again in obvious contradiction with the teachings of his church. He is also in effect condemning all the warmongering activities of his church throughout its existence. Please read our free booklet, “Should YOU Fight in War?”
Killing Russians Not a Sin?
The Jerusalem Post wrote on March 16:
“Ukrainian Orthodox Church leader, Metropolitan Epiphanius I of Kyiv, on Monday blessed his people to ‘fight against the Russian invaders’… The archbishop also stated that killing Russian soldiers isn’t a sin. ‘We, as a nation, do not wish death to our neighbors,’ Epiphanius said. ‘However, since they came to our land, we’re defending our land. Protecting ourselves is not a sin. The [Orthodox Church] blesses everyone for this military feat.’
“This was not the first time Epiphanius made strong declarations in opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In a statement last month, he wrote, ‘The spirit of the Antichrist operates in the leader of Russia. This was [Nazi leader Adolf] Hitler during World War II. This is what [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has become today.’ The church head further asserted that there are ‘signs’ revealing the ‘pride, devotion to evil, ruthlessness [and] false religiosity’ of Putin, just as it was for Hitler.”
The sixth commandment says very clearly: “You shall not kill.” See our free booklet, “The Ten Commandments.”
Breitbart wrote on March 20:
“Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced the banning of Ukraine’s main opposition party [“Opposition Platform — For Life”] as part of an anti-Russian crackdown. A number of other major opposition parties were also banned by the Ukrainian government amid the ongoing Russian invasion of the country at least ‘for the period of the martial law.’
“According to a report by Der Spiegel, the ban was announced via video message on Sunday, and will suspend the operation of the party, which earned 13 per cent of the national vote in 2020 and is most successful in areas of Ukraine with large ethnic Russian and Russian-speaking populations… All of the parties banned in the country… have been considered Eurosceptic, anti-liberal, or pro-Russian by the Zelensky government, according to Der Spiegel.
“… this is not the first time Zelensky has taken action against groups deemed to be pro-Russian. The current government previously put Platform for Life party leader Viktor Medvedchuk under house arrest in May 2021 over accusations that he committed high treason, with authorities alleging the opposition leader had been handing over military secrets to Russia. Zelensky also banned three news channels associated with Medvedchuk and targeted the man’s family and colleagues…
“Western nations have also targeted Russia-linked media since Vladimir Putin escalated hostilities in Donbas into full-scale war, with both the European Union and United Kingdom taking measures to ban the distribution of content produced by Russian-owned broadcaster RT. for example.
“Meanwhile, Russia has experienced its own, even harsher crackdown on those voicing opposition to the war, with thousands reportedly being arrested by the country’s police for protesting against the conflict and people spreading what the state deems ‘fake’ information threatened with significant prison sentences.”
“Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has announced that his country will participate in sanctions against Russia but will not block Russian state media from his country, stating he is against censorship…”
Especially in times of war, freedom of the press becomes a thing of the past… on either side. But suppression of the free press is never a good idea, arousing suspicion as to what one is prohibited and prevented from hearing… and why…, thereby playing right into the hands of the enemy.
Israel 365 News wrote on March 22:
“Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky was accused of trivializing the Holocaust on Sunday after addressing the Israeli Knesset via zoom. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Benett denied Ukraine arm shipments but said he would continue mediation efforts between the two warring countries.
“Zelensky’s zoom address was meant to rally the Israeli government to supply Kyiv with arms to fend off the Russian invasion. But his plea fell on deaf ears after he tried to compare Russia’s invasion to the Holocaust while emphasizing the rare instances of righteous gentiles in Ukraine who aided and abetted Jews during World War 2…
“Zelensky, who is of Jewish parents but baptized both his children, may have gone too far… [when] highlighting the righteous gentiles of Ukraine even though they were an extreme minority among the population of Europe’s cruelest Nazi supporters. A prominent Israeli journalist tweeted: ‘Zelensky’s claim that the Ukrainians were righteous gentiles who saved Jews in the Holocaust is sick historical revisionism. The Ukrainians were active, enthusiastic Nazis. Ukrainian Jewry wasn’t annihilated in Poland, but in Ukraine, by their neighbors.’”
JTA wrote on March 22:
“Over one quarter of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, approximately 1.5 million people, were killed within the territory of what is now Ukraine. Millions of non-Jewish Ukrainians also perished under German occupation as prisoners of war, slave laborers, soldiers, partisans, and ordinary townsfolk and peasants… 2,637 Ukrainians [were] recognized for their efforts to save Jews… but far more Ukrainians played [a role] in collaborating with the Germans and facilitating the murder of their Jewish neighbors.
“The Germans knew that Ukraine would be fertile ground for their exterminationist plan…. only 20 years earlier, Ukrainians opposing Bolshevik rule had murdered tens of thousands of their Jewish neighbors… In Lviv, the first major city the Germans captured in Ukraine, Ukrainian soldiers recruited from abroad with the false promise of German support for Ukrainian statehood, rounded up Jews and threw them to the crowds… German special units with the collaboration of Ukrainian auxiliary police and militia killed between 2,000 and 5,000 Jews in the city in July 1941…
“Similar scenes were repeated elsewhere. During the first month of the German invasion, between 12,000 and 35,000 Jews were killed in eastern Galicia and western Volhynia — two regions that the Soviet Union had taken from Poland in 1939. Many of these massacres were perpetrated by locals, and some without even a German presence…
“As the Germans moved further east into Ukraine, they intensified their massacres. In hundreds of locales with the assistance of local Ukrainian collaborators, they gathered Jewish men, women and children, marched them to the outskirts of town, stripped them naked, and shot them in ravines or trenches. Locals were then permitted to scavenge the clothing of the dead. The organization Yahad in Unum, which has been mapping Holocaust-era mass graves, has identified nearly 1,000 such sites in Ukraine.
“After an initial wave of killing during the German advance, the German military established some 250 ghettos in Ukraine and required Jews to wear armbands with stars. Ukrainian police enforced the regulations… By spring 1942, most of the ghettos were liquidated, and another 500,000 Jews were murdered….
“It’s understandable that Zelensky is making use of whatever reference points he think will help his country…. Still, Zelensky’s voice matters. And when he utters untruths about the Holocaust, it’s important not to let them stand.”
Ukraine first supported Hitler, but then changed sides and collaborated with Russia, when they grew disappointed with German conduct. Something similar may happen again.
The Guardian wrote on March 20:
“‘China will never accept any external coercion or pressure, and opposes any unfounded accusations and suspicious against China,’ the foreign minister, Wang Yi, said on Saturday evening. China has refused to condemn Russia’s action in Ukraine or call it an invasion… [It] has also opposed economic sanctions on Russia over Ukraine, describing them as unilateral and not authorised by the UN security council.
“Wang’s comments came after the US president, Joe Biden, warned his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on Friday of ‘consequences’ if Beijung gave material support to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine….
“Pressure on China to abandon its neutral stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine increased after the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, urged leaders in Beijing to get off the fence and join global condemnation of the Russian leader… China, however, has shown no sign of altering its stance. On Saturday its vice foreign minister, Le Yucheng, described western sanctions against Russia as increasingly ‘outrageous’. Le also acknowledged Moscow’s position on Nato, saying the alliance should not further expand eastwards and force a nuclear power like Russia ‘into a corner’… adding that Russian citizens were being deprived of overseas assets ‘for no reason’.”
Fox News wrote on March 20:
“News that Saudi Arabia is considering pricing oil sales to China using the Chinese yuan instead of the U.S. dollar has Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., concerned the U.S. could be losing its footing on the world stage… Sasse said this development, along with how the war between Russia and Ukraine develops, could send a message to the rest of the world that could have a significant impact… ‘Chairman Xi greenlit this invasion,’ Sasse explained… ‘ Xi desires to seize Taiwan.’
“Sasse went on to say that China’s objective of trying to ‘displace the dollar’ is something the U.S. must monitor. Sasse claimed that other countries would not gravitate toward China out of preference for its policies but out of concern that ‘America is weak.’”
Putin announced that trading of oil and gas with “unfriendly” nations would have to be conducted in Rubles. But it will ultimately be the euro which will replace the dollar.
The Algemeiner wrote on March 18:
“In his address to the US Congress this week, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky told US President Joe Biden in a plea for American air defenses against Russian bombardment from the sky: ‘You are the leader of your great nation. I wish you to be the leader of the world.’ Congress members gave him a standing ovation. Yet reports suggest that, in its imminent deal with Iran, America is about to massively empower a state that is a lethal threat to the West and already has far more American blood on its hands than has Russian President Vladimir Putin. While the Biden administration postures as standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine in its desperate defense against murderous aggression, it is itself reportedly about to capitulate entirely to Iran. This, astoundingly, is America’s actual answer to Zelensky.
“Given that the Iranian regime has been at war with the West since it came to power in 1979, that its fingerprints are on almost every major terrorist atrocity against Western interests and that it unceasingly declares its genocidal aim to exterminate Israel, the administration’s determination to empower it is incomprehensible. The reported terms of the deal being negotiated in Vienna will allow Iran legitimately to equip itself with a nuclear arsenal after a mere delay — according to Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett — of two-and-a-half years. Meanwhile, through the associated sanctions relief America will enable the regime to receive an estimated $100 billion to ramp up its regional power grab; redouble its terrorist activities; and perpetrate attacks on Israel from its proxies in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq and Yemen. The United States is even said to be considering lifting the designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization in return for some vague commitment by Tehran to rein it in. Given the IRGC’s key role as Iran’s elite global terrorism enforcer, any such commitment would be risible…
“For America to bring Iran into the community of nations is obscene. To do so while purportedly exiling Russia from that community of nations is astonishing hypocrisy. Even worse is that while Biden is instructing the world to impose sanctions against Russia, his administration is actually working closely with Russia to lift sanctions against Iran… the Biden administration is now accepting Putin — the man who Biden himself calls a ‘war criminal’ and who has threatened nuclear war against the West — as the controller of Iran’s nuclear-weapons program…
“Of course, the immediate target in Iran’s sights is Israel…”
The Editorial Board of the New York Post wrote on March 218:
“President Joe Biden called Vladimir Putin a ‘war’ criminal Wednesday. With good reason: The autocrat’s forces have bombed hospitals, schools and other civilian structures, wantonly slaughtered children and are leveling Ukrainian cities to try to make them submit.
“But Biden, as usual, didn’t mean it. Turns out the revived Iran deal now under discussion includes a massive sanctions waiver for Russia’s nuclear projects in Iran… Aside from the ugly moral implications, this is policy malpractice. It endangers US interests abroad and also Ukraine, by telling Putin we’re not that serious…
“The 2015 accord was a disaster: It emboldened Iran and helped solidify its position as an aspirant regional hegemon. President Donald Trump’s withdrawal was one of his wisest foreign-policy maneuvers…”
Breitbart wrote on March 17:
“Hunter Biden in 2021 paid an outstanding $1 million IRS tax bill to evade conviction or a long sentence, the New York Times reported Wednesday. As a grand jury continues the probe into Hunter’s corrupt international business dealings, Hunter’s taxes are just one potential crime among many. Working with his family, including his father, former Vice President Joe Biden, the probe into Hunter may include his business dealings with Ukrainian Energy company Burisma Holdings and a Chinese energy conglomerate.
“In relation to the business dealings, the Times confirmed the authenticity of Hunter’s ‘laptop from hell’ that was previously passed off by the establishment media and big tech as Russian disinformation. It took the Times nearly two years to admit the emails from laptop were Hunter’s. Twitter infamously canceled the New York Post’s Twitter handle for purveying ‘disinformation’ during and after the 2020 presidential election.”
The admission of the New York Times that the story on Hunter Biden’s laptop was correct, while the mass media continuously lied about it, calling it a hoax” and “Russian misinformation,” raises the question of criminal misconduct, while it was stated on Fox News that the evidence might suggest that Joe Biden might also be complicit in Hunter’s alleged crimes.
The Christian Post wrote on March 17:
“Recent events in Canada reveal an alarming trend of crackdowns on religious liberty. While not to the same degree of persecution often seen in North Korea or China, it’s nonetheless alarming that brazen violations are happening so close to home. Artur Pawlowski, a Canadian pastor, has been jailed multiple times for holding worship services, expressing his religious views and speaking out against government dictates. He’s just one among many in Canada who’ve faced imprisonment, shuttered facilities, steep fines and continued interference from government officials since the start of the pandemic.
“Additionally, The Washington Times recently reported how Canada is imposing dictatorial speech restrictions: ‘Canada’s recently unanimously passed law, C-4, prevents its citizens from spreading Biblical views on marriage and sexuality. Canadian parents, faith leaders, and citizens who hold traditional views of marriage and sexuality will now face up to 5 years of jail time for providing spiritual guidance to those seeking counseling.’
“Canada’s actions prompted U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley to renew calls to add the country to a special list of religious liberty violators. Last year, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley sent a letter to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom urging it to consider adding Canada to its watch list.
“Americans must confront a difficult question: Is a wave of religious hostility, tyranny and intolerance headed to the Land of the Free? The shocking truth is that similar and equally brazen violations are already happening in our nation… Look at the example of Coach Joe Kennedy, who was fired from his job as a high school football coach. Why? Because the school district claimed it was inappropriate for students and parents to see him take a knee and silently pray for 30 seconds after a football game. A federal appellate court even handed down a troubling ruling stating that any time a public school teacher is on duty and can be seen, everything they do, including a brief, quiet, personal prayer, is government speech… The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear his case and oral argument will be later this year…
“Consider Christian business owners Aaron and Melissa Klein, who were forced to shut down their family bakery… after the state of Oregon imposed a crippling $135,000 fine. An Oregon bureaucratic agency punished them because they declined to create a custom cake for a same-sex wedding… The Sweet Cakes case is currently pending at the Oregon Supreme Court…
“The Biden administration and the Department of Defense are threatening and punishing service members who request religious accommodations to the military vaccine mandate…
“History shows no nation is immune to tyranny…Though our Canadian neighbors appear to be accepting the erosion of their freedoms and God-given rights, Americans cannot follow suit. Religious liberty is the building block of a free society, the pillar of all our civil liberties. Without it, we cannot truly live in liberty.”
Christian Today wrote on March 21:
“Life begins at conception. From the moment the sperm and ovum join, the complete genetic package that is the future adult is there. From that moment on, nothing is added. The individual simply has to develop and grow. A process that continues throughout our lives. But, according to Scripture, God knows us from before we are even in the womb. Every one of us is special, and every one of us has a God-given destiny (e.g. Jeremiah 1:5; Psalm 139; Isaiah 49:5; Luke 1:30-33).
“In line with that, the Bible prohibits the taking of innocent life, which it brands murder and which carries severe penalties, even placing the perpetrator under a curse (e.g. Genesis 9:6; Leviticus 24:17; Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 27:25). In particular, child sacrifice, whether made to pagan deities or to God Himself, is forbidden as an abomination, and labelled ‘detestable’ (e.g. Leviticus 18:21; Deuteronomy 12:19-31; 2 Kings 16:3; Jeremiah 7:30-31). This is in marked contrast to the cultic worship of pagan cultures, where it was believed the sacrificial blood of innocent children was especially efficacious in feeding and appeasing the gods and thereby influencing events.
“Abortion is a form of child sacrifice. It is worship made to the secular gods of self and sexual freedom, fuelling belief in our absolute right to have consequence-free sex whenever, wherever and with whomsoever we choose. In all of this, abortion has both encouraged and driven society’s rejection of, and rebellion against, God.
“… in England and Wales we have witnessed almost 10 million abortions, 98% of which have been performed for what are euphemistically termed ‘social reasons’, meaning that the unborn child was, for whatever reason, at the time unwanted. The situation has, in fact, become so bad that for many, today, abortion is regarded as simply another form of contraception… Even this appears not to be enough, however, and abortion activists continue to call for the complete decriminalisation and demedicalisation of abortion, making it available on request and up to term, with pills freely available over the counter.
“To put all this in some kind of perspective, over the last half century the UK has legally killed around 14% of the population, which is equivalent to killing the entire population of Austria, or the combined populations of Wales and Scotland. Yet even this staggering number pales into insignificance when compared with the number of children aborted globally over the last century, because when the figures are added together, we have at a conservative estimate terminated the lives of around two billion children – equivalent to around 7% of the entire human race.
“… because of our rebellion, we have placed ourselves under judgement, as a result of which God has withdrawn His protection. What we are experiencing now is… most assuredly [a] warning of the judgement to come… if we don’t urgently repent.
“Covid, social fragmentation, the financial collapse of world markets, and now the threat of world war … all are signs of the withdrawal of God’s protection and should send us to our knees in remorse. Only repentance can break the stranglehold of evil. Only repentance can save us….”
International Family News wrote on March 21:
“Despite opposition due to public health concerns based on scientific research, the Environmental Protection Agency has given the green light for the release of billions of experimental genetically-engineered mosquitoes; the largest release of GE insects in the world…
“Oxitec maintains Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are being genetically modified with the goal of reducing the transmission of harmful diseases like dengue, Zika and yellow fever. The male species, which do not bite, would be released into the wild to mate with females which do bite. The company says the resulting offspring, regardless of sex, will not survive to reach maturity.
“There are issues which draw suspicion to Oxitec’s plan: The Aedes aegypti mosquito is not prevalent in California, and the state–according to the Centers for Disease Control–does not have any cases of the harmful diseases listed… While Oxitec states the GE insects will reduce incidence of the mosquito-borne diseases, there is no publicly available data that supports their claim.”
Bild Online reported on March 19:
“At the beginning of March, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (63, SPD) promised Ukraine to deliver 2,700 anti-aircraft missiles. So far, only 500 have arrived… They were only handed over on Thursday… According to government insiders, no further deliveries of the Strela missiles are planned.
“The Federal Ministry of Defense wanted to confirm only that there were supplies to Ukraine. The ministry would not give any further details ‘due to the classification of the information resulting from the current security situation’.
“This makes the delivery of arms a total disgrace for the federal government… As early as March 3, “Der Spiegel’ found out that 700 of the promised rockets from the old GDR stocks were no longer ready for use. According to BILD information, the weapons, which are at least 35 years old, were blocked for use in 2012. Reason: ‘Microcracks in the ammunition’s propellant charge, which led to corrosion/oxidation.’
“Particularly embarrassing: According to ‘Der Spiegel’, the wooden boxes in which the rockets are stored were so moldy in November that Bundeswehr soldiers were only allowed to enter the storage facilities with protective equipment.
“Germany has so far sent few arms and support to Ukraine compared to the US. It started with 5000 helmets, which took a whole month to arrive in Ukraine. At the beginning of this year’s crisis in Ukraine, the German government repeatedly emphasized that it would not supply weapons, but would provide other support. On February 26th, two days after Kremlin despot Putin had started his major attack on the neighboring country, there was a sudden change of heart in the federal government: Germany is now supplying weapons after all!”
Germany’s “help” for Ukraine has been dubious from the outset. Zelenskyy’s trust in NATO, the USA and Germany is failing. His willingness to negotiate with Putin, as reported above, is telling.
Army Technology wrote on March 18:
“Building a capable military is not solely about money, but, given that Germany’s economy remains the largest in Europe, the annual budget uplift would make the country the third-largest defence spender in the world behind the US and China.”
Breitbart wrote on March 23:
“A large number of apartments and houses were raided in Germany on Tuesday as Federal police in the country look to prosecute those who made allegedly hateful remarks against elected officials online. In total, federal authorities have said that they have checked over 600 statements for so-called ‘criminal content’, with 100 people being ‘searched and questioned’ across 13 different German states. According to a report by Der Spiegel, a significant number of raids have also been conducted, with the houses and apartments of those suspected of posting illegal online messages being searched by law enforcement for incriminating evidence.
“A press release by Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office claimed that Tuesday’s so-called ‘joint day of action’ was sparked by posts targeting politicians around the 2021 Federal elections, with elected officials in Germany having special legal privileges making it illegal for their constituents to level certain insults against them. ‘The basis for these investigations is Section 188 of the Criminal Code (StGB), which was revised in spring 2021 and makes insults, slander and defamation of people in political life particularly punishable,’ the Federal Criminal Police Office statement reads. ‘Public officials and elected representatives are given special criminal protection under [Section]188 StGB, regardless of the political level, against hate postings,’ it continues.
“The President of the Federal Criminal Police Office, Holger Münch, also commented on the hardline enforcement of Germany’s speech laws, threatening those in the country who would dare insult politicians that they will meet the same fate… Another official, Hessian Attorney General Torsten Kunze, also commented on the German speech crackdown, claiming that it was somehow a necessary measure to protect democracy, though the official did not cite any evidence for this claim…
“Germany’s day of thought police raids against those who are suspected of insulting or defaming elected politicians is only the latest example of the country’s interesting understanding of what protecting democracy means. The central European country has become infamous for targeting certain political viewpoints, going so far as to put the country’s populist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party under surveillance as a so-called ‘suspicious entity’. What’s more, when the party tried to challenge this decision in court, it was ruled that the state spying on the political party was legal, with the court claiming that the party was supposedly a threat to democracy… Thomas Haldenwang, the President of the German Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which ruled on the surveillance case [said] that his court’s decision to allow state surveillance of a party representing a minority political view was a ‘good day for democracy’.”
Democracy and free speech are once again in danger in Germany.
Breitbart wrote on March 18:
“Combustion engine cars should go the way of the dinosaur from 2035, according to the German government, who have announced they are backing a plan to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars in the EU from that year on. Despite the country initially resisting Europe-wide legislation pushing for zero-emission cars, the Federal Republic has since about-faced on the idea of a motoring Great Reset, and will join others in the bloc looking to begin phasing out hydrocarbon-burning vehicles by 2035 or earlier… new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles [with] internal combustion engines will no longer be allowed after 2035… while Germany’s change in policy is significant, it is not exactly unexpected, with the country’s new left-wing coalition having promised to push a green environmentalist agenda during their time in office…
“52 per cent of Germans believe that the new government’s climate policy will have an overall negative effect on Germany’s ‘social climate’… 49 per cent believe that the nation’s green agenda will have negative effects for them personally, with that number rising to 61 per cent when only Germans in the east of the country are polled… there are widespread fears that the climate policy measures will lead to social upheaval.”
Die Welt wrote on March 19:
“According to a survey, the introduction of vaccination mandates in Germany would hardly increase the vaccination rate: only two percent of those who were not vaccinated said they would then be vaccinated. Many vaccinated people also doubt whether it can be enforced…
“The vast majority, on the other hand – six out of ten unvaccinated people – want to pay fines or be released from the obligation in this case…. Overall, 51 percent of all respondents are in favor of introducing compulsory vaccination… The Bundestag is to decide [on introducing compulsory vaccination]… probably at the beginning of April.”
The Local wrote on March 18:
“Austria will reintroduce the… mask mandate for all indoor areas starting March 23rd, Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) said on Friday… he didn’t rule out or confirm the possibility of a mandate also in schools…
“The relaxation of measures was widely criticized in Austria. The capital Vienna announced it would not follow the reopening steps, keeping a 2G rule in gastronomy and the indoor mask mandate.”
What’s wrong with those Austrians? Will this NONSENSE ever stop?
The New Statesman wrote on March 22:
“Majorities in Finland and in Sweden now support Nato membership… Austrians too are thinking about their neutrality in a Europe forever changed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine… On 25 October 1955 the last Allied troops left Austrian soil; a day later the country’s parliament enacted the Declaration of Neutrality, committing Austria to ‘perpetual neutrality’ and preventing the country from joining ‘military alliances’.
“After the Cold War Austria joined the EU along with Sweden and Finland in 1995. While those two countries are now Nato ‘enhanced opportunity partners’ — the closest relationship short of membership — Austria remains on the periphery of the alliance… Three quarters of Austrians support neutrality, and over 80 per cent are opposed to Nato membership. Austria has come out firmly in support of Ukraine and against the Russian invasion, but in contrast to Sweden and Finland its leadership has been quick to shut down any discussion of abandoning neutrality…
“The Declaration of Neutrality is enshrined in the constitution; repealing it would require a two-thirds majority in parliament which does not currently exist. Austria’s military is also embarrassingly weak; defence spending accounts for just 0.74 per cent of its GDP. While the government plans to raise it to 1 per cent, that would still be well short of the 2 per cent target set for Nato members, let alone the 2.5 per cent analysts believe would be required to build up Austria’s military to the point where it could actually defend the country in the event of an invasion. Austria’s armed forces are little more than a natural disaster response unit.
“Vienna is the third home of the United Nations and yet Austria has not put forward a single initiative that might end the war or bring about a ceasefire in Ukraine…”
It becomes less and less likely that the beast will come from Austria, even though developments may drastically change the Austrian perspective.
Rebel News wrote on March 18:
“Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan faces increasing criticism over his handling of Covid as the state remains isolated from the rest of Australia and its citizens endure the country’s toughest health orders. Today McGowan has released what has been dubbed a ‘Covid Army’ also referred to as a ‘surveillance’ operation on Covid conducted by researchers. Their job is to go door-to-door in Perth over the weekend to conduct random Covid testing on people who do not have symptoms to see if the Omicron variant is going unnoticed within the wider community…
“To put Western Australia in perspective, New South Wales has dropped almost all Covid restrictions, including mask-wearing (except on public transport)… Many Western Australians have taken to social media to express their reservation and anger at the idea of government officials knocking on their door to perform (voluntary) tests… McGowan kept the Western Australian border closed for 697 days.”
Fox Business wrote on March 24:
“A group of airline CEOs sent a letter to President Biden calling on him to end the federal mask mandate on public transportation… ‘It makes no sense that people are still required to wear masks on airplanes, yet are allowed to congregate in crowded restaurants, schools and at sporting events without masks, despite none of these venues having the protective air filtration system that aircraft do,’ the letter said.
“CEOs of Alaska Air, Atlas Air, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, FedEx Express, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, UPS Airlines and Airlines for America signed the letter…. ‘Now is the time for the Administration to sunset federal transportation travel restrictions — including the international predeparture testing requirement and the federal mask mandate — that are no longer aligned with the realities of the current epidemiological environment,’ the letter continued.”
Israel 365 wrote on March 20:
“The national lockdowns instituted in Israel in 2020 negatively impacted people’s health, according to a large-scale study published this week by Clalit Health Services… patients suffering from psychiatric disorders increased by a whopping 60%.”
Is anybody waking up?
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.
On March 26, 2022, Norbert Link will present, “Comments on News and Prophecy, March 26, 2022,” and Kalon Mitchell will present the sermon, titled, “Choose Your Sacrifice.”
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.
by Michael Link
Have we been caught off guard? Are we aware of the fact that in less than three weeks, baptized members of the Church of God will be partaking once again in the Passover service and immediately following, the Days of Unleavened Bread? It is amazing how time flies by, especially when so much around us can interfere with the very things we would really like to focus on. Life gets in the way. Unexpected situations can occur at any time, and we try to find ways to adjust.
Distractions can get the better of us if we’re not careful. They come in many forms and they may hinder us from focusing on what we really need to be focusing on, and if we are not careful, it could become a problem. There are many things in the world that could divert our thinking by giving into things that the world has to offer, especially everything that goes against God’s teaching, and also being caught up and sidetracked with speculation and assumption. We need to be aware of what is going on, what the Bible is prophesying, and we shouldn’t allow ourselves to be deceived by all the propaganda, politics and conspiracies floating around the internet and media sources. That is a distraction and it can consume our thinking, and if we are not careful, it can lead us down the wrong path.
This is exactly what Satan wants, who is the author of confusion, the deceiver, the ruler of this world. He is also specifically targeting God’s people, doing what he can to make us fail, but we need to be stronger than that. Satan knows where we are vulnerable which is why we need to remain vigilant at all times, and God knows that we can succeed IF we obey Him. We need to understand what our commission is, what our purpose is. We see how quickly things can change, how the world is caught in disarray. The immediate future is fragile, and we need to be conscious of this. Matthew 24:42 commands us to watch, and that is exactly what we should be doing – watching and also warning of what is to come.
These diversions can have a bearing on our decision-making and our actions which could affect us personally. Trials are abundant as we all go through them individually, trying to cope, trying to overcome. And we tell ourselves the same thing right around this time when faced with various challenges that “Passover must be right around the corner.”
Well, it is! And this is also the time when we really need to examine ourselves to see where we stand and how serious we are in our spiritual calling. How is our relationship with God? How is our relationship with our like-minded brethren? Are we prepared and ready to partake of the Passover in a worthy manner?
Indeed, there are many things that we may get sidetracked on which could affect our focus. God wants us to be ready at all times. He wants us to be prepared, and He wants us to conquer our weaknesses and overcome the distractions that Satan throws at us. We know that Satan will tempt us in every way possible but we also know that we can overcome every obstacle that we are faced with, as there is nothing too difficult for us to handle. We should take God’s Word very personally. God has called us for a reason. He has a purpose for us NOW. And as we say time and time again, we need to understand that we could possibly delay the return of Christ if we are not faithful in doing the Work, if we are not faithful within ourselves by doing what we need to be doing (2 Peter 3:4-9, 14-18).
We have less than three weeks to get our spiritual minds in check. “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for NOW our salvation is nearer than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11).
by Norbert Link
We begin with further evidence of Putin’s mental sickness and demonic possession while explaining that his real goals go far beyond Ukraine; and continue with Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s desire to meet with Vladimir Putin (see our new message, “Ukraine Disappointed with NATO and Europe—Comments on News and Prophecy, March 19, 2022”). We point out dubious and disappointing “reporting” on the Russian invasion of Ukraine; speak about a stunning statement by Pope Francis on the situation in Ukraine which completely contradicts the Roman Catholic Church’s doctrine on “just wars”; and publish a remarkable article on abortion. In this context, view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Free Abortions in California… ‘Repent or Perish!’”.
We speak about ongoing persecution of religious liberties and freedoms in Canada and America.
We report on the Biden administration’s hypocrisy as it relates to contemplated actions pertaining to Iran; and the shameful conduct of the US mass media regarding the Hunter Biden scandal. We also publish a truly remarkable article on abortion.
Turning to Germany, we discuss the country’s military ambitions; its embarrassing “help” for Ukraine; its “green policy”; dangerous developments regarding a threat to democracy; and dubious discussions regarding vaccination mandates.
We conclude with new mask mandates in Austria and Austria’s “neutrality,” and a report on the danger of mental illness caused by lockdowns.
The Associated Press wrote on March 18:
“Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared at a huge flag-waving rally at a Moscow stadium Friday and praised his country’s troops in biblical terms as they rained lethal fire on Ukraine’s cities…. Moscow police said more than 200,000 people were in and around the Luzhniki stadium for the celebration marking the eighth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula, seized from Ukraine.
“The event included patriotic songs, including a performance of ‘Made in the U.S.S.R.,’ with the opening lines ‘Ukraine and Crimea, Belarus and Moldova, it’s all my country.’
“Seeking to portray the war as just, Putin paraphrased the Bible to say of Russia’s troops: ‘There is no greater love than giving up one’s soul for one’s friends.’ And he continued to insist his actions were necessary to prevent ‘genocide,’ a claim flatly denied by leaders around the globe.”
The Sun added on March 18:
“During the speech, Putin promised the tens of thousands of people waving Russian flags that all the Kremlin’s aims would be achieved… He told the crowd: ‘We know what we need to do, how to do it and at what cost. And we will absolutely accomplish all of our plans.’…
“He said the soldiers fighting in Russia’s ‘special military operation’ had highlighted the unity of the country. ‘Shoulder to shoulder, they help each other, support each other and when needed they shield each other from bullets with their bodies like brothers. Such unity we have not had for a long time,’ he said…
“According to the BBC, many people said they worked in the public sector and they had been pressured into attending by their employers. ‘Many seemed embarrassed or ashamed to be there,’ BBC producer Will Vernon said.”
Just the same as at Hitler’s big rallies when many were forced or misled to attend. And while Hitler did not quote the Bible, he spoke repeatedly of “fate” (“Vorsehung”) which “protected” him.
CNBC wrote on March 18:
“… analysts have warned that President Vladimir Putin may be considering his next target: Moldova… Moldova, like Ukraine, is not part of the European Union, nor is it a member of NATO — though it has ambitions to join both. But, like Ukraine, the former Soviet republic is home to a sizeable pro-Russian separatist population based primarily in the breakaway state of Transnistria on the Ukrainian border. Governed by its own Kremlin-backed leader, Transnistria could present a strategic opportunity for Russia, which has already amassed some 1,500 troops in the area.
“Either Putin could recognize it as an independent state — as he did with Donetsk and Luhansk before launching a full-blown invasion of Ukraine — or it could become the focus point of a so-called false flag event, manufactured by Russia to justify an intervention… if Russia were to take that path, it would spell further hardship, not least for Moldova’s 2.6 million residents and the 350,000 migrants from Ukraine who have fled there… The country — one of Europe’s poorest on a GDP per capita basis — has much less military capability than Ukraine.
“An invasion of Moldova could therefore open a back door into southwest Ukraine… If that were to happen, Moldova could face a fate similar to that of Ukraine, locked in conflict with a global superpower while Western allies watch from the sidelines… without being an EU or NATO member, neither organization is likely to help substantially…”
The Sun wrote on March 18:
“It seems the Russian dictator is becoming increasingly paranoid behind the scenes, fearing someone in his own inner sanctum could poison him. Boris Karpichkov, a former KGB spy now living in exile in the UK, said Putin is now ‘completely losing his mind” over the state of the Ukraine war… ‘He turned out to be a psychopath really heavily obsessed with paranoid ideas and conspiracy theories against himself and about nonexistent threats Russia allegedly faces from the rest of the world.’…
“Mr Karpichkov said: ‘Putin doesn’t care and has already started literally marching over dead bodies under his feet – regardless of whether corpses belong to Ukrainians, or to his own Russian fellow citizens… Based on the fact that Putin is now using barbaric cluster bombs and missiles and using these horrible weapons against civilians, this is a sign Putin is completely losing his patience and his mind… What’s going on with Putin and what’s inside his head cannot be explained…’
“Already an unusually paranoid leader, Putin is now said to have ordered a team of people to taste his food before he eats it over fears he could be wiped out by a deadly concoction. A source told the Daily Beast contributing editor Craig Copetas that the Russian leader has also replaced his entire personal staff of 1,000 people... Putin has made several strongly-worded appearances on Russian state TV since the war started, denouncing Russians who opposed his war with Ukraine as ‘scum’ and ‘traitors’ [This is Stalin-like language.]….
“It comes after a former Russian deputy prime minister spoke out against the Kremlin’s actions in Ukraine. Arkady Dvorkovich, deputy prime minister from 2012 to 2018, became one of Russia’s most senior figures to question the war when he said his thoughts were with Ukrainian civilians under bombardment. Thousands of people have been detained for protesting against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine…”
The Guardian wrote on March 20:
“Authorities in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol have said Russian troops have forcibly deported several thousand residents to Russia, as reports emerged that Russian forces bombed an art school in the city where 400 people were taking shelter. ‘Over the past week, several thousand Mariupol residents were deported on to the Russian territory,’ the city council said in a statement on its Telegram channel late on Saturday. ‘The occupiers illegally took people from the Livoberezhniy district and from the shelter in the sports club building, where more than a thousand people (mostly women and children) were hiding from the constant bombing.’… the council’s statement is one of several reports about Mariupol residents being taken to Russia…
“RIA Novosti agency, citing emergency services, reported last week that nearly 300,000 people, including some 60,000 children, had arrived in Russia from the Luhansk and Donbas regions, including from Mariupol, in recent weeks….”
Express wrote on March 20:
“Putin has ‘finally agreed’ he will need to meet with Ukrainian president… Zelenskyy in person [‘at some point’] to resolve the ongoing conflict in Ukraine… Speaking to BBC’s Broadcasting House, [BBC correspondent Lysa] Doucet said: ‘… He hasn’t said it in public, he says quite the opposite in public… The Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet is very busy, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is very busy. They’ve said privately their understanding is that President Putin will meet President Zelensky when the time is right. But the time is not right now.’…
“Turkey’s Foreign Minister said Russia and Ukraine were nearing agreement on ‘critical’ issues and he was hopeful for a ceasefire if the two sides did not backtrack from progress achieved so far.”
Ultimately, Ukraine and Russia will collaborate together against Europe.
Russia responded to Joe Biden’s assertion about Putin being a war criminal, saying: “Given such irritability from Mr. Biden, his fatigue and sometimes forgetfulness…fatigue that leads to aggressive statements, we will not make harsh assessments, so as to not cause more aggression.” Shameful.
But equally shameful is the following, as reported by the Guardian on February 18:
“Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has praised Fox News for its coverage, appearing on the Russian state-controlled RT network to hail the right-leaning US cable channel, whose primetime host Tucker Carlson has played down the invasion…. ‘If you take the United States, only Fox News is trying to present some alternative point of view,’ he said… Russian media regularly play clips of Carlson criticizing the US and Ukraine, and he was still praising President Vladimir Putin hours before Russia invaded Ukraine almost four weeks ago. In contrast, as Moscow’s bombardment escalated, Russian apologism by numerous Fox hosts, commentators and guests was being corrected on air by the network’s own national security correspondent, Jennifer Griffin.
“The mental split-screen effect only sharpened earlier this week when a Fox news team on the ground in Ukraine came under Russian fire on the frontline. Cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and producer Oleksandra Kuvshynova were both killed during a Russian attack outside the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. Correspondent Benjamin Hall was badly wounded in the incident.”
Newsmax added on March 18:
“Since the onset of the war, Fox’s Tucker Carlson has become a media star in Russia… Carlson has long been a critic of supporters of Ukraine and Biden’s support of the Zelenskyy government. U.S. media across the political spectrum has criticized Carlson for suggesting the Biden administration is permitting a war between Russia and Ukraine in an effort to ‘grab more power’…
“Carlson has repeatedly claimed that Ukraine is not a democracy, and has blamed NATO for the war by expanding near Russia’s border… ‘At exactly the moment when the emergency powers they awarded to themselves to fight COVID started to wane, our leaders began pushing for conflict with Russia,’ Carlson said on his program last Friday.
“Dick Morris said Fox’s Carlson coverage of the war has been ‘an outrage against all that America stands [for].’ The Newsmax commentator and former Fox News contributor said, ‘Roger Ailes, the founding chairman of the network, must be rolling over in his grave. Ailes was above all else a patriot.’”
Carlson’s reporting has also been matched by other outlets in the USA, such as the Ron Paul Institute, making the same dubious allegations. Certain Putin-friendly and anti-Zelenskyy outlets in Germany and Austria are even worse, containing most outlandish unproven accusations or implications, including, for instance, “Wochenblick” and “Report 24.” This is so regrettable, as they did a fairly good job in covering controversial governmental restrictions in response to the Corona pandemic.
Christian Today wrote on March 21:
“There are fears that the persecution of Christians will increase if Russia widens its control over Ukraine… In parts of Ukraine already under Russian separatist control, many Protestant churches have been closed and some Christian books have been banned.
“Donetsk and Luhansk in the disputed Donbas region have been under the control of pro-Russian separatists since 2014… In Luhansk, a Religion Law passed in 2018 required churches to re-register with the authorities… Since then, the authorities have refused to register all Protestant, Baptist and Pentecostal congregations. In March 2019, Baptist Union churches were threatened with punishment if they did not suspend public worship.
“Raids have been carried out on places of worship and the congregations of unregistered churches have been denied access to their buildings or had the water, gas and electricity supply cut off. The Luhansk authorities have also banned 12 Christians books on an ‘extremist material’ list… These include an 1820 edition of the Gospel of John, a Baptist hymnbook, and books by Charles Spurgeon and Billy Graham.”
Euractiv wrote on March 21:
“Vladimir Putin demands the ‘denazification’ of Ukraine. But under Putin, Russia has turned into a totalitarian state strikingly reminiscent of Nazi Germany… Since Putin came to power, Stalinism has been whitewashed and Stalinist crimes have become taboo… History has been conveniently re-written… Putin’s propagandists make it simple: The ‘collective West’ is some sort of heir to Nazism, and its goal is the destruction of Russia.
“Accordingly, the main threat for Russia today comes from Ukraine, where neo-Nazi organisations, such as the Azov battalion, purportedly with 900 soldiers, have been given free rein. They are also told that a far-right Ukrainian politician from the period of WWII, Stepan Bandera, is being glorified…
“When I interviewed the Russian Ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov on the second day of war, I asked him to specify who the Nazis in Ukraine were. He said it was those who marched with a Nazi salute and who glorified Bandera. I asked him if Russia would then come to invade my country, Bulgaria, under the same excuse. As in any other country I know, Bulgaria’s far-right movements can rightly be called neo-Nazi. He said no, because, at least, in his words, Bulgaria has not erected monuments to neo-Nazis. (He didn’t say what I expected – that Russia would not attack us because we are in NATO.) But what is interesting is that in Bulgaria, the parties that can be described as neo-Nazis are today marching with banners glorifying Vladimir Putin.
“Historically the oldest of them is Ataka of Volen Siderov. Siderov, who has used symbols of pro-Nazi Bulgarian organisations from WWII, has been called by the German press ‘Putin’s man in Bulgaria.’ He rushed to recognise Crimea’s annexation in 2014…
“Led by Kostadin Kostadinov, a younger version of Siderov, Vazrazhdane… call themselves ‘the only true patriots’… their ideology can be described as national-socialist (Nazi), and they are now represented in parliament. Every day, Kostadinov and his MPs make speeches supporting Putin, against NATO, and Bulgaria’s country’s membership of the alliance. Kostadinov even said he would ‘de-Nazify’ Bulgaria, whatever that means…
“When we watch Putin’s recent rally on the occasion of the eighth anniversary of the annexation of Crimea, we cannot fail to think about Nazi rallies from the 1930s…”
Politico added on March 21:
“For years, Bulgaria has played a cautious double act, trying to balance itself between East and West and not anger Moscow. While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 united Europe in condemning the war, the conflict has exacerbated old divisions within Bulgarian politics and society….
“Ties between Russia and Bulgaria — a member of both the EU and NATO — run deep, with the countries sharing historic, religious, and cultural ties… Because of Russian clout in Bulgaria, some see the Balkan country as Moscow’s Trojan Horse in the EU…
“Internal coalition squabbles also erupted shortly after Putin launched his assault on Ukraine on February 24. In Sofia, the parliament moved to approve a declaration condemning the war. After hours of debates the Socialists did not support the part of the declaration referring to sanctions. The only other party which did not sign the declaration was Revival, a far-right party and currently one of the most vocal Kremlin supporters. It’s not surprising that Kostadin Kostadinov, the party’s leader, is nicknamed Kopeckin, after the Russian coin…. many Bulgarians tend to see Russia very favorably — indeed Bulgaria’s the country where Moscow gets the highest approval ratings — 73 percent…
“Bulgaria has been a fertile testing ground for Russian propaganda and conspiracy theories for years… Still, experts predict that the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine could force moderate pro-Russian sympathizers to reconsider their loyalties. A recent poll… shows that only four days after Russia invaded Ukraine, the approval of Putin dropped to 32 percent, compared with 55 in July 2021.”
Breitbart wrote on March 19:
“Pope Francis said… that the war in Ukraine proves how savage human beings can be, up to the point of becoming ‘murderers of our brothers.’ ‘We think of so many soldiers who are sent to the front, very young, Russian soldiers, poor things,’ Francis said. ‘Think of the many young Ukrainian soldiers; think of the inhabitants, the young people, the young girls, boys, girls’…
“‘A war is always — always! — the defeat of humanity, always,’ he said. ‘There is no such thing as a just war: they do not exist!’
“It is not clear how the pope’s assertion that just wars do not exist squares with Catholic teaching on just wars. The Catechism of the Catholic Church… lays out a series of conditions necessary to justify the use of military force, summing up the teachings articulated by Saint Augustine of Hippo and Saint Thomas Aquinas.
“It states that ‘the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain; all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective; there must be serious prospects of success; the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. These are the traditional elements enumerated in what is called the “just war” doctrine,’ the Catechism declares.”
Even though the pope is absolutely right in stating that wars, fought by humans, can never be just, it must be emphasized that he is again in obvious contradiction with the teachings of his church. He is also in effect condemning all the warmongering activities of his church throughout its existence. Please read our free booklet, “Should YOU Fight in War?”
Killing Russians Not a Sin?
The Jerusalem Post wrote on March 16:
“Ukrainian Orthodox Church leader, Metropolitan Epiphanius I of Kyiv, on Monday blessed his people to ‘fight against the Russian invaders’… The archbishop also stated that killing Russian soldiers isn’t a sin. ‘We, as a nation, do not wish death to our neighbors,’ Epiphanius said. ‘However, since they came to our land, we’re defending our land. Protecting ourselves is not a sin. The [Orthodox Church] blesses everyone for this military feat.’
“This was not the first time Epiphanius made strong declarations in opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In a statement last month, he wrote, ‘The spirit of the Antichrist operates in the leader of Russia. This was [Nazi leader Adolf] Hitler during World War II. This is what [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has become today.’ The church head further asserted that there are ‘signs’ revealing the ‘pride, devotion to evil, ruthlessness [and] false religiosity’ of Putin, just as it was for Hitler.”
The sixth commandment says very clearly: “You shall not kill.” See our free booklet, “The Ten Commandments.”
Breitbart wrote on March 20:
“Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced the banning of Ukraine’s main opposition party [“Opposition Platform — For Life”] as part of an anti-Russian crackdown. A number of other major opposition parties were also banned by the Ukrainian government amid the ongoing Russian invasion of the country at least ‘for the period of the martial law.’
“According to a report by Der Spiegel, the ban was announced via video message on Sunday, and will suspend the operation of the party, which earned 13 per cent of the national vote in 2020 and is most successful in areas of Ukraine with large ethnic Russian and Russian-speaking populations… All of the parties banned in the country… have been considered Eurosceptic, anti-liberal, or pro-Russian by the Zelensky government, according to Der Spiegel.
“… this is not the first time Zelensky has taken action against groups deemed to be pro-Russian. The current government previously put Platform for Life party leader Viktor Medvedchuk under house arrest in May 2021 over accusations that he committed high treason, with authorities alleging the opposition leader had been handing over military secrets to Russia. Zelensky also banned three news channels associated with Medvedchuk and targeted the man’s family and colleagues…
“Western nations have also targeted Russia-linked media since Vladimir Putin escalated hostilities in Donbas into full-scale war, with both the European Union and United Kingdom taking measures to ban the distribution of content produced by Russian-owned broadcaster RT. for example.
“Meanwhile, Russia has experienced its own, even harsher crackdown on those voicing opposition to the war, with thousands reportedly being arrested by the country’s police for protesting against the conflict and people spreading what the state deems ‘fake’ information threatened with significant prison sentences.”
“Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has announced that his country will participate in sanctions against Russia but will not block Russian state media from his country, stating he is against censorship…”
Especially in times of war, freedom of the press becomes a thing of the past… on either side. But suppression of the free press is never a good idea, arousing suspicion as to what one is prohibited and prevented from hearing… and why…, thereby playing right into the hands of the enemy.
Israel 365 News wrote on March 22:
“Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky was accused of trivializing the Holocaust on Sunday after addressing the Israeli Knesset via zoom. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Benett denied Ukraine arm shipments but said he would continue mediation efforts between the two warring countries.
“Zelensky’s zoom address was meant to rally the Israeli government to supply Kyiv with arms to fend off the Russian invasion. But his plea fell on deaf ears after he tried to compare Russia’s invasion to the Holocaust while emphasizing the rare instances of righteous gentiles in Ukraine who aided and abetted Jews during World War 2…
“Zelensky, who is of Jewish parents but baptized both his children, may have gone too far… [when] highlighting the righteous gentiles of Ukraine even though they were an extreme minority among the population of Europe’s cruelest Nazi supporters. A prominent Israeli journalist tweeted: ‘Zelensky’s claim that the Ukrainians were righteous gentiles who saved Jews in the Holocaust is sick historical revisionism. The Ukrainians were active, enthusiastic Nazis. Ukrainian Jewry wasn’t annihilated in Poland, but in Ukraine, by their neighbors.’”
JTA wrote on March 22:
“Over one quarter of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, approximately 1.5 million people, were killed within the territory of what is now Ukraine. Millions of non-Jewish Ukrainians also perished under German occupation as prisoners of war, slave laborers, soldiers, partisans, and ordinary townsfolk and peasants… 2,637 Ukrainians [were] recognized for their efforts to save Jews… but far more Ukrainians played [a role] in collaborating with the Germans and facilitating the murder of their Jewish neighbors.
“The Germans knew that Ukraine would be fertile ground for their exterminationist plan…. only 20 years earlier, Ukrainians opposing Bolshevik rule had murdered tens of thousands of their Jewish neighbors… In Lviv, the first major city the Germans captured in Ukraine, Ukrainian soldiers recruited from abroad with the false promise of German support for Ukrainian statehood, rounded up Jews and threw them to the crowds… German special units with the collaboration of Ukrainian auxiliary police and militia killed between 2,000 and 5,000 Jews in the city in July 1941…
“Similar scenes were repeated elsewhere. During the first month of the German invasion, between 12,000 and 35,000 Jews were killed in eastern Galicia and western Volhynia — two regions that the Soviet Union had taken from Poland in 1939. Many of these massacres were perpetrated by locals, and some without even a German presence…
“As the Germans moved further east into Ukraine, they intensified their massacres. In hundreds of locales with the assistance of local Ukrainian collaborators, they gathered Jewish men, women and children, marched them to the outskirts of town, stripped them naked, and shot them in ravines or trenches. Locals were then permitted to scavenge the clothing of the dead. The organization Yahad in Unum, which has been mapping Holocaust-era mass graves, has identified nearly 1,000 such sites in Ukraine.
“After an initial wave of killing during the German advance, the German military established some 250 ghettos in Ukraine and required Jews to wear armbands with stars. Ukrainian police enforced the regulations… By spring 1942, most of the ghettos were liquidated, and another 500,000 Jews were murdered….
“It’s understandable that Zelensky is making use of whatever reference points he think will help his country…. Still, Zelensky’s voice matters. And when he utters untruths about the Holocaust, it’s important not to let them stand.”
Ukraine first supported Hitler, but then changed sides and collaborated with Russia, when they grew disappointed with German conduct. Something similar may happen again.
The Guardian wrote on March 20:
“‘China will never accept any external coercion or pressure, and opposes any unfounded accusations and suspicious against China,’ the foreign minister, Wang Yi, said on Saturday evening. China has refused to condemn Russia’s action in Ukraine or call it an invasion… [It] has also opposed economic sanctions on Russia over Ukraine, describing them as unilateral and not authorised by the UN security council.
“Wang’s comments came after the US president, Joe Biden, warned his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on Friday of ‘consequences’ if Beijung gave material support to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine….
“Pressure on China to abandon its neutral stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine increased after the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, urged leaders in Beijing to get off the fence and join global condemnation of the Russian leader… China, however, has shown no sign of altering its stance. On Saturday its vice foreign minister, Le Yucheng, described western sanctions against Russia as increasingly ‘outrageous’. Le also acknowledged Moscow’s position on Nato, saying the alliance should not further expand eastwards and force a nuclear power like Russia ‘into a corner’… adding that Russian citizens were being deprived of overseas assets ‘for no reason’.”
Fox News wrote on March 20:
“News that Saudi Arabia is considering pricing oil sales to China using the Chinese yuan instead of the U.S. dollar has Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., concerned the U.S. could be losing its footing on the world stage… Sasse said this development, along with how the war between Russia and Ukraine develops, could send a message to the rest of the world that could have a significant impact… ‘Chairman Xi greenlit this invasion,’ Sasse explained… ‘ Xi desires to seize Taiwan.’
“Sasse went on to say that China’s objective of trying to ‘displace the dollar’ is something the U.S. must monitor. Sasse claimed that other countries would not gravitate toward China out of preference for its policies but out of concern that ‘America is weak.’”
Putin announced that trading of oil and gas with “unfriendly” nations would have to be conducted in Rubles. But it will ultimately be the euro which will replace the dollar.
The Algemeiner wrote on March 18:
“In his address to the US Congress this week, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky told US President Joe Biden in a plea for American air defenses against Russian bombardment from the sky: ‘You are the leader of your great nation. I wish you to be the leader of the world.’ Congress members gave him a standing ovation. Yet reports suggest that, in its imminent deal with Iran, America is about to massively empower a state that is a lethal threat to the West and already has far more American blood on its hands than has Russian President Vladimir Putin. While the Biden administration postures as standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine in its desperate defense against murderous aggression, it is itself reportedly about to capitulate entirely to Iran. This, astoundingly, is America’s actual answer to Zelensky.
“Given that the Iranian regime has been at war with the West since it came to power in 1979, that its fingerprints are on almost every major terrorist atrocity against Western interests and that it unceasingly declares its genocidal aim to exterminate Israel, the administration’s determination to empower it is incomprehensible. The reported terms of the deal being negotiated in Vienna will allow Iran legitimately to equip itself with a nuclear arsenal after a mere delay — according to Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett — of two-and-a-half years. Meanwhile, through the associated sanctions relief America will enable the regime to receive an estimated $100 billion to ramp up its regional power grab; redouble its terrorist activities; and perpetrate attacks on Israel from its proxies in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq and Yemen. The United States is even said to be considering lifting the designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization in return for some vague commitment by Tehran to rein it in. Given the IRGC’s key role as Iran’s elite global terrorism enforcer, any such commitment would be risible…
“For America to bring Iran into the community of nations is obscene. To do so while purportedly exiling Russia from that community of nations is astonishing hypocrisy. Even worse is that while Biden is instructing the world to impose sanctions against Russia, his administration is actually working closely with Russia to lift sanctions against Iran… the Biden administration is now accepting Putin — the man who Biden himself calls a ‘war criminal’ and who has threatened nuclear war against the West — as the controller of Iran’s nuclear-weapons program…
“Of course, the immediate target in Iran’s sights is Israel…”
The Editorial Board of the New York Post wrote on March 218:
“President Joe Biden called Vladimir Putin a ‘war’ criminal Wednesday. With good reason: The autocrat’s forces have bombed hospitals, schools and other civilian structures, wantonly slaughtered children and are leveling Ukrainian cities to try to make them submit.
“But Biden, as usual, didn’t mean it. Turns out the revived Iran deal now under discussion includes a massive sanctions waiver for Russia’s nuclear projects in Iran… Aside from the ugly moral implications, this is policy malpractice. It endangers US interests abroad and also Ukraine, by telling Putin we’re not that serious…
“The 2015 accord was a disaster: It emboldened Iran and helped solidify its position as an aspirant regional hegemon. President Donald Trump’s withdrawal was one of his wisest foreign-policy maneuvers…”
Breitbart wrote on March 17:
“Hunter Biden in 2021 paid an outstanding $1 million IRS tax bill to evade conviction or a long sentence, the New York Times reported Wednesday. As a grand jury continues the probe into Hunter’s corrupt international business dealings, Hunter’s taxes are just one potential crime among many. Working with his family, including his father, former Vice President Joe Biden, the probe into Hunter may include his business dealings with Ukrainian Energy company Burisma Holdings and a Chinese energy conglomerate.
“In relation to the business dealings, the Times confirmed the authenticity of Hunter’s ‘laptop from hell’ that was previously passed off by the establishment media and big tech as Russian disinformation. It took the Times nearly two years to admit the emails from laptop were Hunter’s. Twitter infamously canceled the New York Post’s Twitter handle for purveying ‘disinformation’ during and after the 2020 presidential election.”
The admission of the New York Times that the story on Hunter Biden’s laptop was correct, while the mass media continuously lied about it, calling it a hoax” and “Russian misinformation,” raises the question of criminal misconduct, while it was stated on Fox News that the evidence might suggest that Joe Biden might also be complicit in Hunter’s alleged crimes.
The Christian Post wrote on March 17:
“Recent events in Canada reveal an alarming trend of crackdowns on religious liberty. While not to the same degree of persecution often seen in North Korea or China, it’s nonetheless alarming that brazen violations are happening so close to home. Artur Pawlowski, a Canadian pastor, has been jailed multiple times for holding worship services, expressing his religious views and speaking out against government dictates. He’s just one among many in Canada who’ve faced imprisonment, shuttered facilities, steep fines and continued interference from government officials since the start of the pandemic.
“Additionally, The Washington Times recently reported how Canada is imposing dictatorial speech restrictions: ‘Canada’s recently unanimously passed law, C-4, prevents its citizens from spreading Biblical views on marriage and sexuality. Canadian parents, faith leaders, and citizens who hold traditional views of marriage and sexuality will now face up to 5 years of jail time for providing spiritual guidance to those seeking counseling.’
“Canada’s actions prompted U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley to renew calls to add the country to a special list of religious liberty violators. Last year, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley sent a letter to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom urging it to consider adding Canada to its watch list.
“Americans must confront a difficult question: Is a wave of religious hostility, tyranny and intolerance headed to the Land of the Free? The shocking truth is that similar and equally brazen violations are already happening in our nation… Look at the example of Coach Joe Kennedy, who was fired from his job as a high school football coach. Why? Because the school district claimed it was inappropriate for students and parents to see him take a knee and silently pray for 30 seconds after a football game. A federal appellate court even handed down a troubling ruling stating that any time a public school teacher is on duty and can be seen, everything they do, including a brief, quiet, personal prayer, is government speech… The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear his case and oral argument will be later this year…
“Consider Christian business owners Aaron and Melissa Klein, who were forced to shut down their family bakery… after the state of Oregon imposed a crippling $135,000 fine. An Oregon bureaucratic agency punished them because they declined to create a custom cake for a same-sex wedding… The Sweet Cakes case is currently pending at the Oregon Supreme Court…
“The Biden administration and the Department of Defense are threatening and punishing service members who request religious accommodations to the military vaccine mandate…
“History shows no nation is immune to tyranny…Though our Canadian neighbors appear to be accepting the erosion of their freedoms and God-given rights, Americans cannot follow suit. Religious liberty is the building block of a free society, the pillar of all our civil liberties. Without it, we cannot truly live in liberty.”
Christian Today wrote on March 21:
“Life begins at conception. From the moment the sperm and ovum join, the complete genetic package that is the future adult is there. From that moment on, nothing is added. The individual simply has to develop and grow. A process that continues throughout our lives. But, according to Scripture, God knows us from before we are even in the womb. Every one of us is special, and every one of us has a God-given destiny (e.g. Jeremiah 1:5; Psalm 139; Isaiah 49:5; Luke 1:30-33).
“In line with that, the Bible prohibits the taking of innocent life, which it brands murder and which carries severe penalties, even placing the perpetrator under a curse (e.g. Genesis 9:6; Leviticus 24:17; Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 27:25). In particular, child sacrifice, whether made to pagan deities or to God Himself, is forbidden as an abomination, and labelled ‘detestable’ (e.g. Leviticus 18:21; Deuteronomy 12:19-31; 2 Kings 16:3; Jeremiah 7:30-31). This is in marked contrast to the cultic worship of pagan cultures, where it was believed the sacrificial blood of innocent children was especially efficacious in feeding and appeasing the gods and thereby influencing events.
“Abortion is a form of child sacrifice. It is worship made to the secular gods of self and sexual freedom, fuelling belief in our absolute right to have consequence-free sex whenever, wherever and with whomsoever we choose. In all of this, abortion has both encouraged and driven society’s rejection of, and rebellion against, God.
“… in England and Wales we have witnessed almost 10 million abortions, 98% of which have been performed for what are euphemistically termed ‘social reasons’, meaning that the unborn child was, for whatever reason, at the time unwanted. The situation has, in fact, become so bad that for many, today, abortion is regarded as simply another form of contraception… Even this appears not to be enough, however, and abortion activists continue to call for the complete decriminalisation and demedicalisation of abortion, making it available on request and up to term, with pills freely available over the counter.
“To put all this in some kind of perspective, over the last half century the UK has legally killed around 14% of the population, which is equivalent to killing the entire population of Austria, or the combined populations of Wales and Scotland. Yet even this staggering number pales into insignificance when compared with the number of children aborted globally over the last century, because when the figures are added together, we have at a conservative estimate terminated the lives of around two billion children – equivalent to around 7% of the entire human race.
“… because of our rebellion, we have placed ourselves under judgement, as a result of which God has withdrawn His protection. What we are experiencing now is… most assuredly [a] warning of the judgement to come… if we don’t urgently repent.
“Covid, social fragmentation, the financial collapse of world markets, and now the threat of world war … all are signs of the withdrawal of God’s protection and should send us to our knees in remorse. Only repentance can break the stranglehold of evil. Only repentance can save us….”
International Family News wrote on March 21:
“Despite opposition due to public health concerns based on scientific research, the Environmental Protection Agency has given the green light for the release of billions of experimental genetically-engineered mosquitoes; the largest release of GE insects in the world…
“Oxitec maintains Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are being genetically modified with the goal of reducing the transmission of harmful diseases like dengue, Zika and yellow fever. The male species, which do not bite, would be released into the wild to mate with females which do bite. The company says the resulting offspring, regardless of sex, will not survive to reach maturity.
“There are issues which draw suspicion to Oxitec’s plan: The Aedes aegypti mosquito is not prevalent in California, and the state–according to the Centers for Disease Control–does not have any cases of the harmful diseases listed… While Oxitec states the GE insects will reduce incidence of the mosquito-borne diseases, there is no publicly available data that supports their claim.”
Bild Online reported on March 19:
“At the beginning of March, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (63, SPD) promised Ukraine to deliver 2,700 anti-aircraft missiles. So far, only 500 have arrived… They were only handed over on Thursday… According to government insiders, no further deliveries of the Strela missiles are planned.
“The Federal Ministry of Defense wanted to confirm only that there were supplies to Ukraine. The ministry would not give any further details ‘due to the classification of the information resulting from the current security situation’.
“This makes the delivery of arms a total disgrace for the federal government… As early as March 3, “Der Spiegel’ found out that 700 of the promised rockets from the old GDR stocks were no longer ready for use. According to BILD information, the weapons, which are at least 35 years old, were blocked for use in 2012. Reason: ‘Microcracks in the ammunition’s propellant charge, which led to corrosion/oxidation.’
“Particularly embarrassing: According to ‘Der Spiegel’, the wooden boxes in which the rockets are stored were so moldy in November that Bundeswehr soldiers were only allowed to enter the storage facilities with protective equipment.
“Germany has so far sent few arms and support to Ukraine compared to the US. It started with 5000 helmets, which took a whole month to arrive in Ukraine. At the beginning of this year’s crisis in Ukraine, the German government repeatedly emphasized that it would not supply weapons, but would provide other support. On February 26th, two days after Kremlin despot Putin had started his major attack on the neighboring country, there was a sudden change of heart in the federal government: Germany is now supplying weapons after all!”
Germany’s “help” for Ukraine has been dubious from the outset. Zelenskyy’s trust in NATO, the USA and Germany is failing. His willingness to negotiate with Putin, as reported above, is telling.
Army Technology wrote on March 18:
“Building a capable military is not solely about money, but, given that Germany’s economy remains the largest in Europe, the annual budget uplift would make the country the third-largest defence spender in the world behind the US and China.”
Breitbart wrote on March 23:
“A large number of apartments and houses were raided in Germany on Tuesday as Federal police in the country look to prosecute those who made allegedly hateful remarks against elected officials online. In total, federal authorities have said that they have checked over 600 statements for so-called ‘criminal content’, with 100 people being ‘searched and questioned’ across 13 different German states. According to a report by Der Spiegel, a significant number of raids have also been conducted, with the houses and apartments of those suspected of posting illegal online messages being searched by law enforcement for incriminating evidence.
“A press release by Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office claimed that Tuesday’s so-called ‘joint day of action’ was sparked by posts targeting politicians around the 2021 Federal elections, with elected officials in Germany having special legal privileges making it illegal for their constituents to level certain insults against them. ‘The basis for these investigations is Section 188 of the Criminal Code (StGB), which was revised in spring 2021 and makes insults, slander and defamation of people in political life particularly punishable,’ the Federal Criminal Police Office statement reads. ‘Public officials and elected representatives are given special criminal protection under [Section]188 StGB, regardless of the political level, against hate postings,’ it continues.
“The President of the Federal Criminal Police Office, Holger Münch, also commented on the hardline enforcement of Germany’s speech laws, threatening those in the country who would dare insult politicians that they will meet the same fate… Another official, Hessian Attorney General Torsten Kunze, also commented on the German speech crackdown, claiming that it was somehow a necessary measure to protect democracy, though the official did not cite any evidence for this claim…
“Germany’s day of thought police raids against those who are suspected of insulting or defaming elected politicians is only the latest example of the country’s interesting understanding of what protecting democracy means. The central European country has become infamous for targeting certain political viewpoints, going so far as to put the country’s populist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party under surveillance as a so-called ‘suspicious entity’. What’s more, when the party tried to challenge this decision in court, it was ruled that the state spying on the political party was legal, with the court claiming that the party was supposedly a threat to democracy… Thomas Haldenwang, the President of the German Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which ruled on the surveillance case [said] that his court’s decision to allow state surveillance of a party representing a minority political view was a ‘good day for democracy’.”
Democracy and free speech are once again in danger in Germany.
Breitbart wrote on March 18:
“Combustion engine cars should go the way of the dinosaur from 2035, according to the German government, who have announced they are backing a plan to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars in the EU from that year on. Despite the country initially resisting Europe-wide legislation pushing for zero-emission cars, the Federal Republic has since about-faced on the idea of a motoring Great Reset, and will join others in the bloc looking to begin phasing out hydrocarbon-burning vehicles by 2035 or earlier… new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles [with] internal combustion engines will no longer be allowed after 2035… while Germany’s change in policy is significant, it is not exactly unexpected, with the country’s new left-wing coalition having promised to push a green environmentalist agenda during their time in office…
“52 per cent of Germans believe that the new government’s climate policy will have an overall negative effect on Germany’s ‘social climate’… 49 per cent believe that the nation’s green agenda will have negative effects for them personally, with that number rising to 61 per cent when only Germans in the east of the country are polled… there are widespread fears that the climate policy measures will lead to social upheaval.”
Die Welt wrote on March 19:
“According to a survey, the introduction of vaccination mandates in Germany would hardly increase the vaccination rate: only two percent of those who were not vaccinated said they would then be vaccinated. Many vaccinated people also doubt whether it can be enforced…
“The vast majority, on the other hand – six out of ten unvaccinated people – want to pay fines or be released from the obligation in this case…. Overall, 51 percent of all respondents are in favor of introducing compulsory vaccination… The Bundestag is to decide [on introducing compulsory vaccination]… probably at the beginning of April.”
The Local wrote on March 18:
“Austria will reintroduce the… mask mandate for all indoor areas starting March 23rd, Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) said on Friday… he didn’t rule out or confirm the possibility of a mandate also in schools…
“The relaxation of measures was widely criticized in Austria. The capital Vienna announced it would not follow the reopening steps, keeping a 2G rule in gastronomy and the indoor mask mandate.”
What’s wrong with those Austrians? Will this NONSENSE ever stop?
The New Statesman wrote on March 22:
“Majorities in Finland and in Sweden now support Nato membership… Austrians too are thinking about their neutrality in a Europe forever changed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine… On 25 October 1955 the last Allied troops left Austrian soil; a day later the country’s parliament enacted the Declaration of Neutrality, committing Austria to ‘perpetual neutrality’ and preventing the country from joining ‘military alliances’.
“After the Cold War Austria joined the EU along with Sweden and Finland in 1995. While those two countries are now Nato ‘enhanced opportunity partners’ — the closest relationship short of membership — Austria remains on the periphery of the alliance… Three quarters of Austrians support neutrality, and over 80 per cent are opposed to Nato membership. Austria has come out firmly in support of Ukraine and against the Russian invasion, but in contrast to Sweden and Finland its leadership has been quick to shut down any discussion of abandoning neutrality…
“The Declaration of Neutrality is enshrined in the constitution; repealing it would require a two-thirds majority in parliament which does not currently exist. Austria’s military is also embarrassingly weak; defence spending accounts for just 0.74 per cent of its GDP. While the government plans to raise it to 1 per cent, that would still be well short of the 2 per cent target set for Nato members, let alone the 2.5 per cent analysts believe would be required to build up Austria’s military to the point where it could actually defend the country in the event of an invasion. Austria’s armed forces are little more than a natural disaster response unit.
“Vienna is the third home of the United Nations and yet Austria has not put forward a single initiative that might end the war or bring about a ceasefire in Ukraine…”
It becomes less and less likely that the beast will come from Austria, even though developments may drastically change the Austrian perspective.
Rebel News wrote on March 18:
“Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan faces increasing criticism over his handling of Covid as the state remains isolated from the rest of Australia and its citizens endure the country’s toughest health orders. Today McGowan has released what has been dubbed a ‘Covid Army’ also referred to as a ‘surveillance’ operation on Covid conducted by researchers. Their job is to go door-to-door in Perth over the weekend to conduct random Covid testing on people who do not have symptoms to see if the Omicron variant is going unnoticed within the wider community…
“To put Western Australia in perspective, New South Wales has dropped almost all Covid restrictions, including mask-wearing (except on public transport)… Many Western Australians have taken to social media to express their reservation and anger at the idea of government officials knocking on their door to perform (voluntary) tests… McGowan kept the Western Australian border closed for 697 days.”
Fox Business wrote on March 24:
“A group of airline CEOs sent a letter to President Biden calling on him to end the federal mask mandate on public transportation… ‘It makes no sense that people are still required to wear masks on airplanes, yet are allowed to congregate in crowded restaurants, schools and at sporting events without masks, despite none of these venues having the protective air filtration system that aircraft do,’ the letter said.
“CEOs of Alaska Air, Atlas Air, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, FedEx Express, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, UPS Airlines and Airlines for America signed the letter…. ‘Now is the time for the Administration to sunset federal transportation travel restrictions — including the international predeparture testing requirement and the federal mask mandate — that are no longer aligned with the realities of the current epidemiological environment,’ the letter continued.”
Israel 365 wrote on March 20:
“The national lockdowns instituted in Israel in 2020 negatively impacted people’s health, according to a large-scale study published this week by Clalit Health Services… patients suffering from psychiatric disorders increased by a whopping 60%.”
Is anybody waking up?
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 Psalm 82 we read about God standing among other gods. This raises questions about who the “gods” are that are in the presence of “God” performing the judgment.
Psalm 82:1-2 reads, “God stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods. How long will you judge unjustly, And show partiality to the wicked? Selah”.
To understand this passage to its fullest, we need to look into and investigate several questions. First, what are the Hebrew words used to translate into “God” and “gods”? Second, what does this passage reveal about the nature of God? Also, how can we understand the judgment of the many gods by the one God? Finally, what is the relevance to true Christians? After addressing these questions, we will find out much more about the nature of God and see how elegantly this event fits into His plan.
To begin, we need to understand more about the translation of this passage. Knowing the origin of the Hebrew words that translate into “God” and “gods”, we will learn how to properly understand the meaning of this passage. Are the gods mentioned pagan gods? Are these God’s angels? Are these gods the other two members of the trinity, even though the Bible does not teach a Trinity of three God beings—one Person in three Persons?
To answer these questions, the Hebrew words used in this passage are the place to start. In Psalm 82:1, in both instances of the word “God” and “gods” is the word “Elohim” in the original Hebrew. The structure of this sentence indicates that the first instance of “Elohim” is singular because the verb “stands” applies only to a singular entity. However, this does not mean that the word “God” only applies to one Being. Even though singular, it can refer to the God Family, consisting of twoBeings, the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ. The word “Elohim,” even though it may be followed by a singular verb, still can refer to the one God Family, consisting of a duality of Beings. But the word “Elohim” can also refer to either one of the two God Beings. For more explanation on this topic, please read our free booklet, “God is a Family,” which elaborates in more detail how “Elohim” can indicate a plurality even when presented in a singular context.
The second instance, the word “gods” is appropriately translated in the plural form, because the preposition “among” requires more than one entity. Therefore, we can understand this passage as seeing the authoritative God—either the God Family or one of the two God Beings—standing among several gods, over whom God has authority.
Throughout the Old Testament Hebrew Bible, the word “Elohim” is consistently used when referencing the Almighty God, and is indeed referencing the same in this example. Seeing the context of what takes place reinforces this understanding. God is the righteous Judge who presides over the other gods mentioned here. Throughout the Bible, righteous judgment like this comes from God, and no one else (compare Psalm 119:7, Psalm 119:160, Romans 1:32, 2 Timothy 4:8). Clearly, the first instance of the word “God” in Psalm 82 references the Almighty God.
What about the second instance of the “gods”? Since this is a plural form of the same word “Elohim”, what is the correct interpretation of this word? Again, looking at the context of the events in this passage helps to identify the gods through their activities. In Psalm 82:2, those who are gods are condemned for unjustly judging those on earth. Seeing that the activity that they are engaged with involves judging men on earth helps us to clarify who these gods are. The act of judgement is only applicable to a few possible entities, and is not ascribed to others who might be referenced by the word “Elohim”.
Other translations of the word “elohim” can refer to pagan gods (Exodus 20:3), or even angels (compare one possible rendering in Psalm 8:5). In the context of the events presented in this Scripture, we can rule out these options. Pagan gods are not the judges over man, but rather empty concepts invented by man at best (compare 1 Kings 18:20-39, Romans 1:22-23), and demonic entities at their worst (compare Leviticus 17:7, Deuteronomy 32:17, Psalm 106:37, 1 Corinthians 10:20). Demons simply do not play a role in judging mankind, but rather causing them to fall into judgment. Therefore, to conclude that those in the presence of God are the false, pagan gods or even demons doesn’t make sense.
To say that those in the presence of God in this instance are righteous angels does not make sense either. Reiterating, the activity that identifies these other “elohim” is judgment of mankind. While angels have a special, spiritual existence in the heaven, their job is not to judge mankind. On the contrary, the Bible shows that they have a role to serve mankind as ministering spirits. Reading from Hebrews 1:13-14, “‘But to which of the angels has He ever said: “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool”? Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?’” In this example, the author whom we believe to be Paul, compares angels to Jesus Christ, making the point that their role in the plan of God is much different. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, a member of the Family of God, has a role of rulership. He sits on the throne, having the authority to judge mankind righteously. Angels do not have that capacity. As a reinforcement of the role of servitude, in the book of Revelation when John bowed down to an angel in an act of worship, the angel responded: “Then he said to me, ‘See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God’” (Revelation 22:9). The angels have an important role in the plan of God, but it is not one of authority and judgment over mankind. In fact, we are told that we will judge angels—not, that angels will judge us (1 Corinthians 6:3). Therefore, to interpret the other “elohim” in Psalm 82 as referring to angels is incorrect.
Could the reference to “elohim,” as describing the “gods,” possibly refer to Jesus Christ? The activity of judgment of mankind fits the role of Jesus Christ, but seeing that these other “elohim” are accused of judging unjustly, this cannot possibly fit. Jesus Christ is indeed the Judge of mankind. From 2 Timothy 4:1 we read, “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom…” But unlike the “elohim” that judge unjustly, Jesus is a righteous Judge. “Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8). Even though the description of the activity of judgment is consistent with the role of Jesus Christ, since there are at least some “elohim” who judge unjustly, this cannot possibly refer to Jesus Christ
By reading further in Psalm 82, we discover another clue that can help us understand who these other “elohim” are. Quoting from Psalm 82:6-8, “I said, ‘You are gods, And all of you are children of the Most High [a reference here to God the Father]. But you shall die like men, And fall like one of the princes.’ Arise, O God, judge the earth; For You shall inherit all nations.” In this passage we see the statement “You are gods” being ascribed to those same “elohim”, again being translated into the same word “gods”. We learn that they will “die like men,” which clearly denotes a mortal, physical existence. It rules out the possibility that it refers to Jesus Christ, angels or demons, since they cannot die. So then, are these “gods” physical people? Before answering this question, we need to fast-forward to the time of Jesus Christ’s physical life on earth.
When Jesus was facing the Jews of His time in the temple, He proclaimed that He was the Son of God (compare John 10:25-32). Remember, He was fully man, completely physical, and proclaiming something that the Jews of His time thought was blasphemous. To provide support for this claim that He was the Son of God, Jesus quotes that same passage from Psalm 82:6. “Jesus answered them, ‘Is it not written in your law, “I said, ‘You are gods’”? If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, “You are blaspheming,” because I said, “I am the Son of God”?’” (John 10:34-36). Jesus makes the point that God the Father said “You are gods”, and applies it also, to some extent, to Himself making it clear that His claim as being the Son of God could not be blasphemous. Therefore, it is clear that those “elohim” from Psalm 82 play a role as sons of God, of whom Jesus Christ is the first of the firstfruits (compare 1 Corinthians 15:20-23). Understanding that Jesus Christ referred to Himself as the Son of God, while He was in the flesh, it becomes clear that those who are referenced as the “elohim” have the same potential to be in the Family of God as Jesus Christ. God warns them not to commit the sin of judging unjustly, because it will result in physical death, losing out on the potential to be an eternal member of the God Family.
Therefore, we can see that the other “elohim” mentioned in Psalm 82 must refer to those who have the potential to become members of God’s Family, but also with the potential to die. This refers to physical man, and it may even include Christians, who are still physical, but have become baptized begotten members of God’s Family. Many in the world have a hard time believing that mankind has the potential to become members of God’s Family, but the Bible is replete with this message.
In God’s eyes, even though true Christians are physical, they are considered to be His begotten sons and daughters in the present tense. Although we have not been transformed into spirit, He considers us to already be begotten children of His Family. John writes, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:1-3). This clearly reveals that true Christians are considered begotten children of God, now. Knowing that God sees all of mankind, including His begotten children, as those who have the potential to become perfected and glorified through a change from physical into spirit, the other “elohim” from Psalm 82 refers to the potential members of God’s Family while they are still in the flesh.
Other Scriptures in the Bible support this conclusion.
Human judges who have not become converted and who judge unrighteously will not reach their potential of becoming God Beings, unless they repent. The fact that the other “elohim” are condemned for judging mankind unjustly is also consistent with the admonition of Christians to judge righteously (even though they would not rule as “judges” or jurors in a court of law). Christians have a duty to live to a higher standard, following the perfect example of Jesus Christ, who is the righteous Judge of mankind. Christians too are instructed to judge righteously (1 Corinthians 6:1-6, John 7:24). Yet, we know that Christians are fallible, physical people with the potential to fall into sin, for which the penalty is death (compare Romans 6:23). This understanding is consistent with the warning that unless these other “elohim” don’t change their ways, they will suffer death.
Also, since the other “elohim” are warned that they can “die like men”, this cannot refer to those who have been perfected, for two reasons. First, this cannot refer to those who have been changed to become Spirit Beings in the Family of God, because as born-again God Beings, they cannot sin (compare 1 John 3:9). Secondly, those who have been changed into Spirit Beings as members of God’s Family have inherited eternal life (compare Matthew 19:29). Those who have obtained eternal life cannot die (Luke 20:35-36). Therefore, the other “elohim” from Psalm 82 cannot refer to born-again members of God’s Family who have already been perfected, but rather, when referring to Christians, while they are in a physical state as begotten members of God’s Family.
When looking more deeply into Psalm 82, we can learn a great deal about the plan of God. It shows that mankind has the potential to become perfected, serving a divine role under the authority of God the Father and Jesus Christ. We understand also that Jesus Christ is the firstborn of God, but God’s plan is to bring many more into His Family to participate in divine rulership. Quoting from our free booklet, God is a Family, “After explaining that mankind was to become conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ, God shows the underlying purpose in His plan in Romans 8:29: Christ was to ‘be the firstborn among many brethren.’ So important is the purpose of God in bringing many sons and daughters to glory that He was willing to give His only begotten Son in fulfillment of His objective (compare John 3:16).” We also learn that God sees His converted children as begotten members of His Family in the present tense, even though they are still physical. And because of that, those converted Christians have an obligation, if called upon, to judge righteously in their personal dealings with other people, with the warning of death for those who neglect their potential and fail to overcome sin because of Christ’s Sacrifice. The world may be mystified in understanding who these other gods in Psalm 82 are, but we ought to be comforted knowing that this refers potentially to mankind as a whole and also to us, as dedicated Christians, begotten members of God’s Family, who continually work to follow in the perfect example of Jesus Christ.
Lead Writer: Eric Rank
compiled by Dave Harris
“Free Abortions in California… ‘Repent or Perish!’” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:
A new law in California makes it much easier for women to carry out abortions. But what about the unborn children? Do you know how many children have been aborted worldwide over the last century? What is God’s perspective on the matter? And what must we do to obtain God’s protection in these horrible times?
“Kostenlose Abtreibungen in Kalifornien… ‘Bereut oder kommt um!’” is the title of a new AufPostenStehen program, presented by Norbert Link. This German language program covers the same topic as described above.
The first of this year’s Holy Days are approaching. Passover will be on April 15, 2022 (observed the previous evening), followed by the Feast of Unleavened Bread: April 16th (annual Holy Day) through April 22th (annual Holy Day). We will provide live services over the Internet for both Holy Days.
“Ukraine Disappointed with NATO and Europe—Comments on News and Prophecy, March 19, 2022, the first message presented last Sabbath by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:
Many feel that Putin will not stop at Ukraine and that he will conquer other Western countries, but the question is whether God will allow it at this time. Germany is not too desirous of really helping Ukraine. Chancellor Olaf Scholz stands accused of behaving shamefully, while President Biden’s call with China did not seem to have accomplished much. Zelenskyy is getting more and more frustrated with NATO, the EU and Germany. His willingness to negotiate peace with Putin is remarkable. Prophecy is marching on.
“Why One Third Will Die,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Michael Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:
Have we learned anything from history through the suffering and destruction from wars and disease epidemics? The Bible prophecies that this will happen again, but in ways far more horrific than ever before. How can we prepare ourselves NOW so we can be counted worthy to escape all these inevitable events that will come to pass?
This Update is an official publication by the ministry of the Church of the Eternal God in the United States of America; the Church of God, a Christian Fellowship in Canada; and the Global Church of God in the United Kingdom.
Editorial Team: Norbert Link, Dave Harris, Rene Messier, Brian Gale, Margaret Adair, Johanna Link, Eric Rank, Michael Link, Anna Link, Kalon Mitchell, Manuela Mitchell, Dawn Thompson
Technical Team: Eric Rank, Shana Rank
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On March 11, Newsmax published the following article by Patrick J. Buchanan:
“Putin’s ambition, his goal, his dream, appear transparent – to bring home to the bosom of Mother Russia the diaspora Russians left behind in the lost 14 republics when the USSR splintered and came apart. Those housing significant Russian minorities are Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and the Baltic republics of Latvia and Estonia…
“Would we really go to war with Russia if Russia invaded our NATO ally Estonia to bring home Russian peoples left behind at the end of the Cold War? If Russia seeks to create a land corridor through Lithuania and Poland to its separated province of Kaliningrad on the Baltic, would we declare war on a nuclear-armed Russia to prevent it?
“The Biden administration, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the lead, has said again and again these last two weeks that the US will defend ‘every inch’ of NATO territory. Will we?…
“In World War II,… Americans did not go to war with Germany for Great Britain, when it declared war on Hitler’s Germany and then was defeated in France. We went to war with Germany only when Hitler declared war on us, four days after Pearl Harbor in December 1941…
“On national media, one also hears enthusiasm for bringing Finland and Sweden into NATO. But Finland is the size of Germany and has an 833-mile border with Russia, which would be NATO’s largest. Is it really credible that the US would declare war or go to war with Russia to secure Finland’s border?”
It is highly doubtful that the US or NATO would declare war on Russia if Putin were to invade a NATO member state. And Putin knows this. But what if Putin WERE to march towards Berlin, and Germany would be left in the cold? That is why the EU, under German leadership, is desperate in creating a EU army, and statements by Ursula von der Leyen, that NATO has the strongest army in the world, appear ludicrous and ridiculous in the present climate when NATO is unwilling to use its army.
Israel 365 wrote on March 14:
“When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Israel last month, her expected statement that the ‘US support for Israel’s security and regional stability remains ironclad’ seems to have been nothing more than a canned formality as far as Jerusalem is concerned. Knesset Member and former Health Minister Yuli Edelstein (Likud) is the latest voice from the Israeli establishment admitting that Washington can no longer be relied upon in case of war with Iran…
“Israel isn’t the only one who no longer sees Washington as a reliable ally… journalists throughout the Arab world no longer see the US as a reliable ally.”
Fox News wrote on March 13:
“CNN’s Fareed Zakaria said Sunday that America was losing its hold on the world’s stage, emphasizing that the signs were ‘everywhere.’ ‘One of the defining features of the new era is that it is post-American. By that I mean that the Pax Americana of the past three decades is over,’ the ‘Fareed Zakaria GPS’ host said. Zakaria pointed to UAE and Saudi Arabia’s officials’ unwillingness to accept a phone call from President Biden as evidence of American decline. …
“Zakaria pointed to the Biden administration’s inability to lead a joint response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine as further evidence of American decline. ‘Consider as well that Israel initially in the Security Council vote and India have refused to describe Putin’s actions as an invasion and that all four countries have made it clear they will continue to do business with Russia,’ Zakaria said…
“‘The greatest strategic opportunity lies with Europe, which could use this challenge to stop being the passive international actor it has been for decades. We now see signs that the Europeans are ready to end the era of free security by raising defense spending and securing NATO’s eastern border,’ he said. ‘If Europe becomes a strategic player on the world stage, that could be the biggest geopolitical shift to emerge from this war. A United States joined by a focused and unified Europe would be a super alliance…’”
America’s decline is undeniable. A European Army will emerge, but it will not be in alliance with the USA, but in opposition to it.
Express wrote on March 11:
“Ukrainian MP Inna Sovsun tells Express.co.uk that Putin won’t stop at Ukraine… She said: ‘In 1994 we gave up our nuclear weapons – in exchange we got assurances from the UK and the US that our security will be guaranteed. That was a written promise from the UK and the US – right now they are breaking that promise. Imagine Russia does invade Ukraine fully and take control of the country – that would put Russia on the eastern border of the EU and Poland. Putin has already said he doesn’t like Poland, the Baltic countries, Hungary in the EU. He doesn’t like Finland’s neutrality or Sweden’s neutrality. Moldova is next door. Does anyone really believe he will stop with Ukraine? He will go further…’
“Ms Sovsun was referring to The Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, which saw Ukraine give up its nuclear weapons while Russia promised not to attack the country. The treaty dictated that countries such as the UK and US should ‘provide assistance to Belarus, Kazakhstan or Ukraine if they should become a victim of an act of aggression or an object of a threat of aggression in which nuclear weapons are used’.
“Express.co.uk also spoke to Finnish ambassador to the UK, Jukka Siukosaari, who… responded to a threat from Russian foreign affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova who said that Finland and Sweden could face ‘military consequences’ if they try to join NATO.”
In the past, many would have dismissed such threats as typical idle Russian propaganda. But with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a different picture emerges.
Express wrote on March 13:
“VLADIMIR PUTIN will advance west towards further European capitals if he succeeds in his invasion of Ukraine, the country’s former prime minister [Volodymyr Groysman] has warned. This comes as nine people are reported dead after a Russian strike on a military base near the Ukrainian border with Poland- a NATO member and EU state. Ukrainian authorities said that up to 30 missiles were launched at the facility at Yavoriv, injuring 57 people.
“[He said:] ‘If Ukraine falls, it will mean that Putin’s troops will be on the border of the EU and Nato, and then in a year – or maybe sooner, maybe later – he will intervene in the Baltic states and Poland, for instance… So what’s going to happen then? [Some] European leaders will still be able to say, “Look, the war might become even bigger, so let’s wait [so] it doesn’t become a large-scale war, because it’s still only about Lithuania and Estonia and Poland, but it’s not about France or Great Britain or Germany.”’”
“Mr Groysman spoke of Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky’s, insistence that the West commit to a NATO-enforced no-fly zone over Ukraine. This is something the West has been unwilling to put into practice, with US President Joe Biden warning it would mean a kickstart to World War 3. But World War 3, Mr Groysman continued, may have already begun.”
If God were to allow it, Putin would most certainly attempt to conquer other European countries. And Russia will… later.
Military.com wrote on March 10:
“For some European countries watching Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine, there are fears that they could be next. Western officials say the most vulnerable could be those who aren’t members of NATO or the European Union, and thus alone and unprotected — including Ukraine’s neighbor Moldova and Russia’s neighbor Georgia, both of them formerly part of the Soviet Union — along with the Balkan states of Bosnia and Kosovo.
“But analysts warn that even NATO members could be at risk, such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on Russia’s doorstep, as well as Montenegro, either from Moscow’s direct military intervention or attempts at political destabilization.
“Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘has said right from the start that this is not only about Ukraine,’’ said Michal Baranowski, director of the German Marshall Fund’s Warsaw office…. ‘he was also talking about the eastern flank of NATO and the rest of Eastern Europe.’… EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said that ‘Russia is not going to stop in Ukraine.’”
Estonia called for the immediate establishment of a No-Fly-Zone over Ukraine.
The Sun wrote on March 16:
“RUSSIAN state TV has aired a discussion on seizing the Baltic states as Nato bolsters Eastern European allies with thousands more troops. A former senior officer laid out a chilling scenario for Putin’s army capturing Nato countries Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, as well as grabbing parts of neutral Sweden….
“After gaining their independence when the Soviet Union collapsed, all three Baltic states joined Nato and continue to fear… Putin has designs on destabilising and invading, as he’s done in Ukraine. Just such a scenario was outlined on Russian state TV channel Rossiya 1 by Colonel Igor Korotchenko, formerly of the Russian General Staff and air force and currently a reserve officer… Using maps in English with Nato troop deployments marked, he outlines in sinister detail the invasion scenario. At the beginning ‘a massive Russian radio-electronic strike is inflicted’ as ‘all Nato radars go blind and see nothing’….
“‘At this time, on the Swedish island Gotland, Russian military planes land, delivering S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems, and Bastion coastal anti-ship systems,’ he said…. Korotchenko goes on to explain [that] the Russians would push out from the enclave of Kaliningrad towards the Suwalki corridor to block access to reinforcements from Poland. ‘The astonished West and Nato will know that Russia declares a no-fly zone of 400km,’ he said… Korotchenko went on ‘that those few special forces troops of Canada, UK, Germany and the USA… will be ‘surrounded’ by… Russian airborne forces and then ‘lay down their arms’.
“The scenario ends with the new Baltic states’ governments pledging allegiance to Moscow while Sweden agrees to perpetual neutrality and a 99 lease on Gotland. The programme went out on Russian television at the end of last year but was posted by Ukrainian government advisor Anton Gerashchenko. It has echoes of a televised address given by dictator Alexander Lukashenko in which he appeared to have revealed Moldova could be the next country to be invaded by Russia.”
In an accompanying box, the Sun wrote:
“It comes as…
“Footage appears to show the horrific moment Russian soldiers shoot dead a civilian as he holds up his hands… Russia has… called for Alaska to become part of its territory again. Volodymyr Zelensky has admitted Ukraine may never join Nato… A nine-year-old girl has lost her arm after Russian forces machine-gunned her family when they tried to flee Kyiv.”
Israel Today wrote on March 9:
“Putin sees Christianity as the spiritual glue that will unify and strengthen his empire. Since becoming President of Russia, Putin has cast himself as the true defender of Christians throughout the world… In a March 2014 speech given at the Kremlin just after Russia annexed Crimea, Putin pointed to Russia’s spiritual authority over Ukraine and Belarus… On July 12, 2021 Putin again proclaimed that Moscow alone must rule over Kyiv… Putin declared to the Kremlin on February 21, 2022 that ‘Ukraine is an inalienable part of our own history, culture and spiritual space.’ This phrase has deep resonance for those who are steeped in over a thousand years of Russian religious history. Herein lies a key to his imperialistically-based invasion of Ukraine which began on February 23, 2022…
“In the days of Hitler, the West was asleep at the wheel. Chamberlain’s indecisive stutter greeted the Nazi belligerent annexation of Czech Sudetenland, where more than three million people (including many ethnic Germans) lived. Most of Europe applauded the Munich Agreement, believing that this was the best chance to prevent a major war on the European Continent… Europe’s enabling of Hitler actually opened the door to a full-blown WWII.
“Is the West ready and willing to stop Putin by responding militarily and check-mating Russia’s expansion westward… before it becomes unstoppable? We seem to be living in days which have strong parallels to those just after WWII, days when the Berlin Wall still stood unblinking, when Russia still stretched its gnarled hand across Eastern Europe. But rather than recognizing the immediacy of the threat, many in the West are responding with agonizing slowness… But would such a timid Western response have been sufficient to stop Hitler in his tracks back in the day? And what about the agonies that Ukrainians are facing…
“Some are stating that, as long as Russia does not cross into NATO-affiliated countries, there is no need to respond militarily to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Had this sort of response been the reaction to Hitler’s blitzkriegs, WWII would have been decisively lost. Should the West wait until Poland or the Baltic Countries or Hungary are overrun?”
The “Christianity” which Putin sees as the glue to unify his empire is most certainly not the Christianity of the Bible. The “spiritual” or better demonic aspect in Putin’s conduct is largely overlooked.
Fox News wrote on March 12:
“U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., says he supports imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine, despite the risks involved with the U.S. shooting down Russian aircraft and escalating the conflict…. But Mast, an Army veteran, said the risk is necessary, given Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unpredictability. ‘As much as none of us want to be in the Ukraine, if we do nothing, ultimately, everybody will be forced to be in the Ukraine as a result,’ Mast, who lost both his legs in Afghanistan, told Fox News.
“Mast said Putin may ultimately drag NATO and the U.S. into military conflict, even without a no-fly zone. ‘None of us should be under this illusion that Putin is a rational actor or operates in a proportional way,’ Mast told Fox News. ‘This guy invaded the sovereignty of…Ukraine. Just because we don’t do something doesn’t mean that Putin doesn’t still react to NATO or to the European Union or any other countries throughout Europe in some other kind of way’…
“Soon after Mast’s interview with Fox News, the Kremlin accused the U.S. of waging ‘economic war’ against Russia, and warned America to expect a response… Additionally, the Florida Republican doesn’t expect the war to end through diplomacy.”
Mast’s warnings have merit. Note the next article.
The Daily Mail wrote on March 12, 2022:
“Deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov warned the US ‘that pumping weapons from a number of countries it orchestrates isn’t just a dangerous move, it’s an action that makes those convoys legitimate targets’… Volodymyr Zelensky has slammed the West for its inaction, saying today he ‘doesn’t see any bravery from NATO’ as he pleaded for more involvement from allies in peace negotiations and more anti-missile systems, saying he is willing to pay. The wartime leader also said Putin’s forces can only take Kyiv if they ‘raze the city to the ground’…
“… after a 75-minute call with Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz [Putin raged] that Ukraine was guilty of ‘extrajudicial reprisals against dissidents, taking civilians hostage, using them as human shields, [and] putting heavy armaments in civilian areas near hospitals, schools, kindergartens.’ Scholz and Macron implored Putin to end the war and stop the brutal siege of Mariupol but a French official said he did not show any willingness for calling off his inhumane invasion. “
Putin’s claims, conduct and behavior are clearly reminiscent of Hitler’s. The Sun described Putin’s attacks on March 11 as “Devil’s Work,” the same term Hitler used when he invaded Poland.
Express wrote on March 13:
“VLADIMIR PUTIN is suffering from a condition related to dementia, Parkinson’s disease, or steroid use, international intelligence sources have claimed… Analyses have focused on how Putin, 69, appears in recent photos and footage, in conjunction with his behaviour towards diplomats and politicians…
“[Former head of MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove, said:] ‘Those around him see a marked change in the cogency and clarity of what he says and how he perceives the world around him…. People with dementia are very, very good at covering up their dementia. But eventually, it reaches a point where they can’t. And if you look at what he’s doing, Vladimir Putin is mentally unstable.”
This condition might contribute to his mental illness. But the real reason is demonic possession.
Fox News wrote on March 12:
“A guest on MSNBC [former U.S. Ambassador to Russia and Stanford University Professor Michael McFaul] was torched by critics making a comparison between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Adolf Hitler, providing a more favorable view of the Nazi dictator… ‘One of the Russian journalists said, “You know, there’s one difference between Hitler when he was coming in and Putin. Hitler didn’t kill ethnic Germans. He didn’t kill German-speaking people,”’ McFaul said…
“‘I think people need to remember that we’re talking about cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol and Kyiv, there are large populations there, you know, up to a third and sometimes as much to a half that are Russian speakers and are ethnic Russians. And yet Putin doesn’t seem to care about that. He slaughters the very people he said he has come to liberate,’ McFaul said….
“‘Hitler “didn’t kill German-speaking people” is an insanely false claim since many of the Jews murdered in the Holocaust spoke German,’ Washington Examiner reporter Jerry Dunleavy reacted, adding, ‘Pro-Tip: You don’t have to try to play weird word games to try to make Putin seem worse than Hitler — Putin is plenty bad on the objective facts.’…
“‘Okay, I’m going to express this calmly. It’s wrong to suggest that German Jews, whose families had lived in Germanic lands for centuries, weren’t ethnic Germans. Also Hitler killed German communists, German Roma, German trade unionists, German handicapped, German queers, etc,’ The Nation columnist Jeet Heer corrected McFaul…
“McFaul was even called out by the Auschwitz Memorial, which replied, ‘On a factual note: Hitler did kill ethnic Germans & German-speaking people: those who opposed the Nazi regime, those who resisted, those who did not fit into the “Weltanschauung”. He ordered the murder of people with different disabilities & finally the murder of German Jewry.’”
McFaul’s comments were just plain stupid and factually terribly incorrect. McFaul walked back his comments and made matters worse, saying: “I slipped late last night and violated an unwritten taboo– never compare Hitler with anyone. I agree. He was incomparably evil. I won’t do it again.”
Hitler was NOT incomparably evil. Others are likewise. Given the chance, Putin will prove that and own this description. The coming “beast” will be much worse.
The New York Post wrote on March 16:
“Former President Donald Trump said in an interview Tuesday that he was ‘surprised’ Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded neighboring Ukraine, having thought the threat of an attack was a negotiating ploy. ‘“I’m surprised — I’m surprised. I thought he was negotiating when he sent his troops to the border. I thought he was negotiating,’ Trump told the Washington Examiner. ‘I thought it was a tough way to negotiate, but a smart way to negotiate… And then he went in — and I think he’s changed. I think he’s changed. It’s a very sad thing for the world. He’s very much changed,’ Trump said of the Russian leader.
“The former president, who has repeatedly insisted that Russia would not have launched its invasion if he were still in the White House, defended himself against criticism from lawmakers, including some Republicans, for praising Putin just before the invasion as ‘savvy’ and a ‘genius.’… ‘I’ve been very critical of Putin from the standpoint of the pipeline, from the standpoint of raising billions and billions of dollars in NATO to protect, primarily, Europe against Russia,’ Trump said. ‘Nobody else did that.’”
How Trump could have thought that Putin was “bluffing” is hard to decipher. To ramble about it is even worse.
Hollywood Reporter wrote on March 17:
“Arnold Schwarzenggger released an emotional video Thursday addressed to the people of Russia… in an attempt to punch through Russian state propaganda… Schwarzenegger details how the fighting was instigated by Russia in February, explaining that the invasion has been declared illegal by 141 countries, that many civilian buildings (such as a maternity hospital) have been bombed, that there’s now a massive refugee crisis and that thousands of Russians have died.
“‘The world has turned against Russia because of its actions in Ukraine,’ he said. ‘The destruction that Russian bombs are raining down on innocent civilians has so outraged the world that the strongest global economic sanctions ever taken have been imposed on your country… This is not the war to defend Russia like your grandfather or your great-grandfather fought. This is an illegal war!’
“In a rarity for the Austria-born actor, Schwarzenegger also candidly invoked his father’s dark history as a Nazi sergeant when addressing the Russian government’s false claims that its troops are engaged in the ‘de-nazification’ of Ukraine. ‘[My father] was injured at Leningrad, and the Nazi army he was part of did vicious harm to the great city and to its brave people,’ he said. ‘When my father arrived in Leningrad, he was all pumped up on the lies of his government. When he left Leningrad, he was broken — physically and mentally. He lived the rest of his life in pain — pain from a broken back, pain from the shrapnel that always reminded him of those terrible years and pain from the guilt that he felt. To the Russian soldiers listening to this broadcast: You already know much of the truth that I’m speaking. You’ve seen it in your own eyes. I don’t want you to be broken like my father.’…
“In addition, the actor also addressed Putin himself: ‘To those in power in the Kremlin, let me just ask you: Why would you sacrifice these young men for your own ambition? … To President Putin, I say: You started this war. You are leading this war. You can stop this war.’
“Schwarzenegger closed with a message to Russian protesters who have risked imprisonment to take to the streets to voice opposition to the war in Ukraine. ‘The world has seen your bravery,’ he said. ‘We know that you’ve suffered the consequences of your courage. You have been arrested, you’ve been jailed, and you’ve been beaten. You are my new heroes…’”
The Jerusalem Post wrote on March 11:
“Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he recommends Ukraine take the offer made by Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war – which includes many Ukrainian sacrifices… According to the official, Zelensky and his people did not like the advice.
“‘Bennett told us to surrender,’ said the official. ‘We have no intention of doing so. We know Putin’s offer is only the beginning.’… The official also said that Israel asked Ukraine not to request more military and defense aid because such a request could harm the mediation efforts….
“Ukrainian officials believe that Bennett’s involvement in diplomatic efforts comes from his not wanting to take a clear stance regarding the Russian invasion from fear that it will harm Israel’s ties with Russia.”
Bennet’s conduct in the Russian-Ukrainian affair was dubious from the outset.
The Algemeiner wrote on March 12:
“A top Ukrainian adviser and an Israeli official on Saturday pushed back against a media report suggesting Israel tried to nudge Ukraine into caving to Russian demands during talks.”
Express wrote on March 11:
“Alex Konanykhin left Russia in 1992 and seven years later became the first Russian citizen to be granted political asylum in the United States from post-Soviet Russia. Last week, the businessman announced via social media he is offering a reward of $1 million for the arrest of Putin… his motives for doing this were because he does not want to be ‘confused for most Russians who either actively supported or are silently complicit in Putin’s war against Ukraine’. Mr Konanykhin’s social media post received millions of likes and huge media attention. He said reaction to his post shows Putin ‘is going to be a close second to Hitler in history in the number of people who would cheer his demise’…
“Mr Konanykhin… believes there are ‘eerie similarities’ between the actions of Putin and those of Hitler. He said: ‘Putin is imitating Hitler to such a degree as if he got Hitler’s playbook out of the archives, and is simply going through it page by page.’”
A clear reference to Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.”
Deutsche Welle wrote on March 14:
“From the beginning of the war in Ukraine, it was clear that China would not condemn Russia’s invasion… Last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi… blamed a ‘Cold War mentality’ as the real reason for the war in Ukraine… China’s talk of a Cold War mentality and Russia’s justifications that its actions are intended to defend itself from NATO are hypocritical…
“In Russia’s worldview, it is impossible to conceive that sovereign states such as Ukraine would make use of their sovereignty and decide of their own free will in favor of democracy and closer ties with the European Union. The fact that Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, has its own ideas about its future is also unacceptable to Beijing, which sees Taiwan as a Chinese province.”
Military.com wrote on March 11:
“China considers Taiwan a breakaway province, and Xi has vowed to pursue ‘reunification.’ While U.S. officials say Xi would prefer to accomplish that through coercive measures short of all-out war, they add he is prepared to use military force if need be… Weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Putin and Xi signed a pact that declared there were ‘no limits’ or ‘’forbidden’ areas of cooperation’ between Russia and China.”
Newsmax wrote on March 13:
“Pope Francis issued his toughest condemnation yet of the invasion of Ukraine, saying on Sunday the ‘unacceptable armed aggression’ must stop… Francis also said that the killing of children and unarmed civilians was ‘barbaric’ and with ‘no valid strategic reason.’… ‘In the name of God I ask you: stop this massacre!,’ the pope said, adding that Ukrainian cities risked ‘being reduced to cemeteries.’
“The pope has not used the word ‘Russia’ in his condemnations of the war… But his choice of words… appear aimed at contesting Moscow’s justifications for the invasion… Last Sunday Francis [said] it could not be considered ‘just a military operation’ but a war that had unleashed ‘rivers of blood and tears.’”
CNN wrote on March 12:
“The biggest problem is wheat… Supplies from Russia and Ukraine, which together account for almost 30% of global wheat trade, are now at risk. Global wheat prices hit an all-time high earlier this week. Another major problem is access to fertilizer. Essential for farmers to hit their production targets for crops, it’s never been more expensive, as exports from Russia grind to a halt. Output in Europe has also plunged thanks to the surging price of natural gas, a key ingredient in nitrogen-based fertilizers like urea…
“Egypt just banned the export of wheat, flour, lentils and beans amid growing concerns over food reserves in the Arab world’s most populous state. Indonesia has also tightened export restrictions on palm oil, which is a component in cooking oil as well as in cosmetics and some packaged goods like chocolate. It’s the world’s top producer of the product…
“Even before Russia launched a war in Ukraine, the global food system was strained. Snarled supply chains and unpredictable weather patterns… had already pushed food prices to their highest level in about a decade. Affordability was also an issue after the pandemic left millions out of work.
“The number of people on the edge of famine has jumped to 44 million from 27 million in 2019… Russia and Ukraine serve as the breadbasket for countries in the Middle East, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa that depend on imports… The brewing crisis goes beyond wheat and oils. Russia, along with its ally Belarus, is also a major exporter of the fertilizers needed to plant a wide range of crops. But right now, everyone is shunning their stock…”
The Washington Post wrote on March 12:
“Houses filled with the dead were common in Ukraine in 1932 and 1933. Those who collected the corpses knew where to stop if they saw ravens nearby. And sometimes the emaciated living were carted away with the deceased. Desperate, starving people, deprived of their livelihood by ruthless edicts of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, were forced to eat grass, tree bark, flowers, rats, dogs and, in the end, their children, historians have recorded. People died in the streets, on sidewalks, in train stations, in farm fields and on country roads. About 4 million of them perished in the great famine, known as the Holodomor, or death by hunger.
“Today, as Ukraine battles Russian invaders and the dead again lie in the streets of places, including Mariupol, that have been cut off from supplies, memory of the famine and its links to the Kremlin remain strong… Thirteen percent of the Ukrainian population perished… as Stalin enforced ‘collectivization’ through the seizure of private property, livestock and equipment by the state, and brutally punished peasants for failure to meet quotas by taking the last of their food. Fearful of simmering Ukrainian nationalism, Stalin applied economic ‘sanctions’ to regions that could not fulfill government requisitions.
“Just as now, people jammed into trains to try to leave the country… Stalin decided to close the Ukrainian border and make it difficult for people to escape or go from village to village inside Ukraine. He sent in special requisition brigades to scour the homes of the starving for hidden goods…
“The result was a catastrophe… Combined with the complete absence of food they also produced, in the Ukrainian countryside, a very rare form of madness… Many survivors witnessed either cannibalism or, far more often, necrophagy, the consumption of corpses of people who had died of starvation…
“And as Russian President Vladimir Putin lies to his people today about the invasion of Ukraine, the lie Stalin told about the famine lives on, too… In 2015, Sputnik News, a Kremlin propaganda website, published an article in English called ‘Holodomor Hoax.’ The famine, it said, was ‘one of the 20th century’s most famous myths and vitriolic pieces of anti-Soviet propaganda.’”
The article contained numerous explicit examples of cannibalism… These terrible events are prophesied to be repeated, at a much larger scale, in the very last days. To be clear, we have no doubt that Stalin was demonically possessed as well.
Deutsche Welle wrote on March 11, 2022:
“The heads of all 27 EU states pledged to strengthen their ties with Kyiv and ‘support Ukraine in pursuing its European path’ following a two-day summit in Versailles, France. In a joint statement, the EU leaders also said that ‘Ukraine belongs to the European family.’ However, they rejected the plea by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to quickly accept Ukraine into the EU… The accession process normally takes years or even decades, with the candidate nation required to meet a number of EU-set criteria. The host of the summit, French President Emmanuel Macron, said the bloc would not make exceptions for Ukraine…
“German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was also against the idea, pointing instead to the association agreement that the EU made with Kyiv in 2017 as a way to deepen ties… Meanwhile, Scholz said the EU sanctions had already had ‘dramatic consequences’ for the Russian economy, while arguing that stopping Russian oil and gas imports was not tenable for several EU members.”
Die Welt described the summit in France as a “summit of shame” and stated that Scholz did not cut a good figure. Zelensky’s disappointment with NATO and with the EU, especially Germany, should be noted.
Grip.ie wrote on March 13:
“Poland – one of the EU’s poorest countries – has accepted 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees in two weeks since the Russian invasion began… As Poland reels from this influx of new arrivals, struggling financially to accommodate them, the European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to put economic sanctions on both Hungary and Poland. 478 MEPs voted in favour, and only 155 voted against….
“The parliament declared that it was now ‘high time’ for the European Commission to ‘react to the ongoing violations of the rule of law in some EU member states, which pose a danger to the European Union’s financial interests.’… The EU will deprive Poland and Hungary of billions of euros in funds, claiming that they have seized political control over the media and judiciary. Poland and Hungary have denied the accusations, accusing the EU in return of blackmailing their countries, and saying some EU resolutions are incompatible with their constitutions and they are merely attempting to implement judicial reforms.”
All of this shows the total hypocrisy of the EU.
The Sun wrote on March 17:
“FRANCE, Germany and Italy side-stepped an arms embargo to sell weapons to Vladimir Putin that are being used to slaughter Ukrainians. On a day of shame for the EU, it emerged that member states sold hundreds of millions of pounds of military kit to Russia between 2015 and 2020.”
AFP wrote on March 17:
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday called on Germany to help destroy a new ‘Wall’ Russia was erecting in Europe, as he appealed directly to Chancellor Olaf Scholz to bolster his tentative response to the invasion. In a speech combining an appeal for fresh aid for his besieged country with criticism of Berlin’s long accommodating stance toward Moscow, Zelensky recalled Germany’s own triumph over its Cold War division. ‘It’s not a Berlin Wall — it is a Wall in central Europe between freedom and bondage and this Wall is growing bigger with every bomb’ dropped on Ukraine, Zelensky told MPs, echoing an appeal to history deployed before the US Congress Wednesday.
“Appearing on a screen in his now trademark khaki T-shirt with dark circles under his eyes, Zelensky was welcomed by MPs in the Bundestag lower house with a standing ovation. In a grave tone, he directly addressed Scholz, who faced fresh attacks from the conservative opposition for a halting stance in the crisis. ‘Dear Mr Scholz, tear down this Wall,’ he implored, evoking US President Ronald Reagan’s 1987 appeal to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate. ‘Give Germany the leadership role that you in Germany deserve.’… ‘We turned to you,’ he said. ‘We told you that Nord Stream (gas pipeline cooperation between Russia and Germany) was a kind of preparation for the war. And the answer we got was purely economic — it is economy, economy, economy, but that was the mortar for the new Wall.’…
“Christian Democrat Norbert Roettgen, who is calling for a total Russian energy embargo, led a chorus of conservative criticism of the government after Zelensky’s speech, saying Scholz should have addressed parliament immediately afterwards. He tweeted that the ‘historic moment’ had been followed by ‘total silence — that was undignified… a moment of collective shame’. His party colleague, Roderich Kiesewetter, called it ‘baffling’ that parliament continued with plans to debate a national vaccine mandate rather than on Germany’s Ukraine policy.”
Bild Online called it a “day of shame” for the German Parliament.
Fox News wrote on March 12:
“A series of missiles were fired Sunday from Iran in the direction of the U.S. consulate in Erbil, Iraq… The missiles numbered as many as 12… None of the missiles made contact with the consulate… The strike represented an escalation in hostilities between Iran and the U.S…. The missile strike came several days after Iran said it would respond to an Israeli strike near Damascus, Syria, that resulted in the deaths of two members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard…
“The Sunday strike also came as negotiations in Vienna, on the potential revival of the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal, hit a ‘pause’ because of Russia’s demands regarding economic sanctions it faces because of its invasion of Ukraine…”
Wherever one looks, the USA is in deep trouble.
Newsmax wrote on March 11:
“The Biden administration’s one-month extension of mask mandates at airplane, train, and transit hubs has left many Americans wondering why they still must cover their faces to travel when they’re free to go maskless in virtually any other indoor space.
“The 30-day extension, which will keep the mask requirement in place until at least April 18, comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced it’s working on new guidelines that will ultimately lead to the lifting of the rule, squashing the hopes of Republican lawmakers who hoped to see the mandates be allowed to expire on March 18.”
The extension of these regulations by the Biden administration is annoying and, in fact, just plain stupid.
The New York Post wrote on March 15:
“The federal rule that requires air travelers to wear face masks, which the Transportation Security Administration first imposed more than a year ago, was scheduled to expire this Friday. But the TSA extended the requirement for at least another month, for reasons even harder to understand than the original rationale for the mask mandate.
“That is saying a lot, because the scientific justification for the TSA’s rule has always been weak, given that the conditions on airplanes are not conducive to COVID-19 transmission. The ventilation systems on commercial aircraft, which mix outdoor air with air recycled through HEPA filters and limit airflow between rows, help explain why there were few outbreaks associated with commercial flights even before vaccines were available. ‘The risk of contracting COVID-19 during air travel is low,’ an October 2020 article in The Journal of the American Medical Association noted…
“Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly reiterated that point during a Senate hearing in December. ‘I think the case is very strong that masks don’t add much, if anything, in the air cabin environment,’ he said. ‘It is very safe and very high quality compared to any other indoor setting.’ American Airlines CEO Doug Parker agreed. ‘An aircraft is the safest place you can be,’ he said. ‘It’s true of all of our aircraft — they all have the same HEPA filters and airflow.’
“On Feb. 25, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stopped recommending general indoor masking in parts of the country it rates ‘low’ or ‘medium’ risk, which as of last week covered more than 98% of the US population. According to the CDC, then, it is safe to dispense with masks in stores, churches, schools, bars and restaurants — environments where the risk of virus transmission is much higher than it is on airplanes…”
Who said that mask mandates and lockdowns and other restrictions made any sense whatsoever?
Life Site wrote on March 15:
“The Council of the European Union (EU) on Friday agreed to extend the EU’s Digital COVID Certificate until at least June 2023, re-igniting concerns that the discriminatory measures imposed ostensibly to curtail the spread of the coronavirus could persist indefinitely… In the statement, the Council asserted that the EU’s COVID jab passport, which has been used to segregate society between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, barring those who haven’t gotten the jab from many parts of society, ‘played an important role in facilitating the free movement of people during the pandemic.’
“The decision to extend the regulation for the COVID pass comes despite the fact that the experimental drugs have not been shown to stop transmissions of the virus. The segregation of society by vaccine status using COVID jab passport schemes has drawn sharp criticism by many, including the authors of a comprehensive paper released last month.
“Written by researchers with expertise in public health, epidemiology, bioethics, statistics, pediatrics and law from Johns Hopkins University, Oxford, Harvard, the University of Washington, and other institutions, the paper argued that ‘current population-wide mandatory vaccine policies are scientifically questionable, ethically problematic, and misguided.’…”
Amen to that.
Breitbart wrote on March 11:
“President Joe Biden complained Friday he was ‘sick’ of Americans blaming him for inflation instead of the coronavirus pandemic or Russian President Vladimir Putin… The President made his remarks at a Democrat policy retreat to Democrats in Philadelphia in a rambling speech about issues facing his presidency…
“The President is suffering from terrible ratings on the economy due to his failure to address inflation. Sixty-three percent of Americans disapprove of the president’s handling of the issue of inflation and rising prices,… including 54 percent who strongly disapprove.
“During his speech, Biden falsely blamed Putin’s invasion of Ukraine for causing gas prices to rise in 2022, starting in January… But even former Democrat officials have outlined that Biden’s reckless spending agenda, as well as the Federal Reserves’ policies, overstimulated the economy and led to growing inflation.
“Former Treasury Secretary for Barack Obama Larry Summers told the Harvard Gazette in an interview that government intervention in the economy is partially responsible for inflation, suggesting it was an overreaction to the coronavirus pandemic. ‘We had an economy where income was running short by $50 billion a month because of the pandemic, and we injected $150 billion to $200 billion a month into that economy,’ he wrote. [In fact, Larry Summers called the $1.9T spending bill which passed in March 2021 “”the least responsible economic policy in 40 years.”]
“‘This is Biden’s inflation and he needs to own it,’ wrote former Barack Obama administration czar Steve Rattner on social media after the White House tried to blame Putin for inflation. Inflation sharply spiked in March 2021, after Biden’s first $1.9 trillion spending bill passed.”
There is no doubt that Biden’s ill-conceived policies are responsible for the rising inflation and the economic mess which this country is in. But it takes a strong leader to admit grievous mistakes and change for the better. Biden is not such a strong leader.
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.
On March 19, 2022, Norbert Link will present, “Comments on News and Prophecy, March 19, 2022,” and Michael Link will present the sermon, titled, “Why One Third Will Die.”
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.
On March 19, 2022, Norbert Link will present, “Comments on News and Prophecy, March 19, 2022,” and Michael Link will present the sermon, titled, “Why One Third Will Die.”
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.
by Rene Messier (Canada)
We are described by the apostle Paul as good soldiers for Christ, stating in 2 Timothy 2:3: “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” That means, we have a fight on our hands. This is not referring to fighting in a physical war, but rather to a spiritual fight against spiritual forces. Ephesians 6:12 tells us: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Paul uses the armory of a soldier at that time and compares it to what we need in order to overcome the spiritual battle we are in.
No Roman or Greek soldier at the time of Paul would go to war without checking out his equipment to ensure it was not compromised in any manner. He would check his helmet for any deficiencies, knowing how important a helmet was. The breastplate which protected all his vital organs would be examined for any cracks or deficiencies and also his shoes to ensure the leather was supple and not cracked in any way. His belt would be inspected to ensure it was in good shape to hold the scabbard in which his sword was kept when it was not used in battle, and his shield would be examined to ensure that it hadn’t been weakened by previous battles and could withstand another onslaught of arrows and sword blows from the enemy.
It was also most important that his sword would be polished for maximum efficiency, and that it was sharp and free of any defects since he would not want it to fail in the heat of battle. All his equipment was for defensive purposes and protection with the exception of his sword which was his only offensive weapon.
Paul compared the human soldier’s armory with the spiritual qualifications that a Christian must have, emphasizing that we need the whole armor of God.
In Ephesians 6:14, we read that our waist must be girded with truth. We know that the commandments of God are truth. Psalm 119:151 says: “You are near, O LORD, And all Your commandments are truth.” We must have the commandments internalized in our hearts and minds when we want to obtain spiritual protection.
Ephesians 6:14 also tells us that we must put on the breastplate of righteousness. Romans 10:4 says that Christ is the end or goal of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. We must believe that Christ, living in us, will enable us to keep the law so that the righteous requirements of the law can be fulfilled in us (Romans 8:4). It is not our own righteousness, but the righteousness of Christ in us, which helps us to keep God’s laws and be obedient to them.
Ephesians 6:15 continues that we must have shod our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. We must have the gospel of peace internally in our hearts, and we must be involved in the work of getting that gospel out to the world.
Ephesians 6:16 speaks of the shield of faith which we must possess. We have to have faith, which is the hope for things not seen. Our hope is in the resurrection which we have not seen yet, but we have the faith that God will resurrect us to enter the kingdom of God.
We also need the helmet of salvation, as Ephesians 6:17 states. Salvation is a free gift from God which we cannot earn but we can lose it if we do not endure to the end, but instead become negligent and ultimately commit the unpardonable sin.
As mentioned, the only offensive weapon of the Roman or Greek soldier at the time of Paul was the sword, and Ephesians 6:17 compares it, spiritually, to the word of God which is the Bible. We have to have the word of God firmly entrenched in our hearts to be able to fight this spiritual battle we are in, and we are in it to win.
So, the big question is: How does our spiritual armor look, and will it carry us through to the end?
by Norbert Link
Recently, we received several comments—some of them quite hateful– disagreeing with our articles and StandingWatch messages pertaining to the Russian invasion in Ukraine, calling Ukraine a “satanic state” and exonerating Putin, while seeing in him a righteous tool in God’s hands to punish evil Ukrainians. Others wrote that we do not like Russians. Some even tried to defend Hitler’s invasion of Czechoslovakia and Poland, claiming that these two nations were not innocent. Others accused “wicked” Zelenskyy [also spelled Zelensky] of being pro-abortion, pro-homosexuality and pro-transgenderism, while Putin was more righteous than he, and blamed the wicked USA for Putin’s war.
Frankly, we were not that much surprised about comments like these, knowing full well the pro-Russian and anti-American propaganda in large parts of the world.
We need to understand that this is Satan’s world. He and his demons are the rulers over ALL nations and kingdoms. Sometimes they literally possess certain leaders. God allows Satan to rule, and He does not intervene, unless potential developments would prevent His plan to be carried out. Even though it says that God will use a future king of Assyria—the beast—to punish ungodly nations, such as the USA, the UK, Canada and other English-speaking countries, it is still Satan who raises up that king and gives him his power and authority. He and his demons will possess the beast (a future European leader of German or Austrian descent) and the false prophet, who will persecute and massacre true Christians. God does not hold these demonically possessed leaders guiltless, but rather, they will be thrown in a lake of fire at the return of Jesus Christ.
We in the Church of the Eternal God do not take sides or endorse political leaders or advocate war in any manner. We are simply reporting world events in the light of biblical prophecy. When this means that we must report the fact that Putin is possessed, then we will do so, whether pro-Putin and anti-American readers or viewers like it or not. The fact that Putin might be against homosexuals does not negate the fact of his possession—Hitler, who was likewise possessed, was against homosexuals too, but that did not make him a tool in God’s hands. We also hasten to add that neither Hitler nor Putin claimed that their invasion of foreign lands was because of homosexual conduct of their citizens.
We are not against “the Russians” (otherwise, we would not have published a booklet in the Russian language on marriage and family), but we are pointing out the evil deeds of Putin and those who support him. We do the same in respect to other leaders and their supporters if they fulfill biblical prophecies through their actions.
What we see right now are developments which will ultimately lead to a unification of Russians and Ukrainians and others to conquer and destroy Europe, and invade the Middle East. Again, even though it says that God will use the modern “Medes” to do these things, after HE has raised up the modern Chaldeans (“the most terrible of the nations”–the last European revival of the ancient Roman Empire), it is still Satan who actually does all of it, but God allows it and sees to it that His prophesied purposes are fulfilled. In fact, the kings of the East, together with the beast and their armies, will be destroyed by Christ at His return.
God accepts everyone from every nation or ethnic background who turns to Him, fears Him and works righteousness. But those who support this evil world and its leaders are doomed.
For more information, please view our StandingWatch programs, “Putin—the Devil’s Tool”; “Putin’s War against Ukraine… How It Happened!”; and “What Does the Bible Say about Russia’s Future?” .
Also, please view our most recent StandingWatch program, “The Ukraine War and America’s Unreliability and Decline.”
In this edition, we speak on further similarities between Putin and Hitler, as well as NATO’s, America’s and Europe’s unwillingness to really stand up to Putin, while it is feared that Putin will not stop at Ukraine and while Zelenskyy becomes more and more frustrated with NATO and the EU. We also address the unreliability and decline of the USA; the close relationship between Russia and China; and the rise of hypocritical Europe. In addition, we report on a terrible famine in Ukraine, caused by Stalin, and frightful modern-day similarities.
We conclude with further mask mandates in the USA and Biden’s refusal to accept responsibility for inflation.
On March 11, Newsmax published the following article by Patrick J. Buchanan:
“Putin’s ambition, his goal, his dream, appear transparent – to bring home to the bosom of Mother Russia the diaspora Russians left behind in the lost 14 republics when the USSR splintered and came apart. Those housing significant Russian minorities are Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and the Baltic republics of Latvia and Estonia…
“Would we really go to war with Russia if Russia invaded our NATO ally Estonia to bring home Russian peoples left behind at the end of the Cold War? If Russia seeks to create a land corridor through Lithuania and Poland to its separated province of Kaliningrad on the Baltic, would we declare war on a nuclear-armed Russia to prevent it?
“The Biden administration, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the lead, has said again and again these last two weeks that the US will defend ‘every inch’ of NATO territory. Will we?…
“In World War II,… Americans did not go to war with Germany for Great Britain, when it declared war on Hitler’s Germany and then was defeated in France. We went to war with Germany only when Hitler declared war on us, four days after Pearl Harbor in December 1941…
“On national media, one also hears enthusiasm for bringing Finland and Sweden into NATO. But Finland is the size of Germany and has an 833-mile border with Russia, which would be NATO’s largest. Is it really credible that the US would declare war or go to war with Russia to secure Finland’s border?”
It is highly doubtful that the US or NATO would declare war on Russia if Putin were to invade a NATO member state. And Putin knows this. But what if Putin WERE to march towards Berlin, and Germany would be left in the cold? That is why the EU, under German leadership, is desperate in creating a EU army, and statements by Ursula von der Leyen, that NATO has the strongest army in the world, appear ludicrous and ridiculous in the present climate when NATO is unwilling to use its army.
Israel 365 wrote on March 14:
“When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Israel last month, her expected statement that the ‘US support for Israel’s security and regional stability remains ironclad’ seems to have been nothing more than a canned formality as far as Jerusalem is concerned. Knesset Member and former Health Minister Yuli Edelstein (Likud) is the latest voice from the Israeli establishment admitting that Washington can no longer be relied upon in case of war with Iran…
“Israel isn’t the only one who no longer sees Washington as a reliable ally… journalists throughout the Arab world no longer see the US as a reliable ally.”
Fox News wrote on March 13:
“CNN’s Fareed Zakaria said Sunday that America was losing its hold on the world’s stage, emphasizing that the signs were ‘everywhere.’ ‘One of the defining features of the new era is that it is post-American. By that I mean that the Pax Americana of the past three decades is over,’ the ‘Fareed Zakaria GPS’ host said. Zakaria pointed to UAE and Saudi Arabia’s officials’ unwillingness to accept a phone call from President Biden as evidence of American decline. …
“Zakaria pointed to the Biden administration’s inability to lead a joint response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine as further evidence of American decline. ‘Consider as well that Israel initially in the Security Council vote and India have refused to describe Putin’s actions as an invasion and that all four countries have made it clear they will continue to do business with Russia,’ Zakaria said…
“‘The greatest strategic opportunity lies with Europe, which could use this challenge to stop being the passive international actor it has been for decades. We now see signs that the Europeans are ready to end the era of free security by raising defense spending and securing NATO’s eastern border,’ he said. ‘If Europe becomes a strategic player on the world stage, that could be the biggest geopolitical shift to emerge from this war. A United States joined by a focused and unified Europe would be a super alliance…’”
America’s decline is undeniable. A European Army will emerge, but it will not be in alliance with the USA, but in opposition to it.
Express wrote on March 11:
“Ukrainian MP Inna Sovsun tells Express.co.uk that Putin won’t stop at Ukraine… She said: ‘In 1994 we gave up our nuclear weapons – in exchange we got assurances from the UK and the US that our security will be guaranteed. That was a written promise from the UK and the US – right now they are breaking that promise. Imagine Russia does invade Ukraine fully and take control of the country – that would put Russia on the eastern border of the EU and Poland. Putin has already said he doesn’t like Poland, the Baltic countries, Hungary in the EU. He doesn’t like Finland’s neutrality or Sweden’s neutrality. Moldova is next door. Does anyone really believe he will stop with Ukraine? He will go further…’
“Ms Sovsun was referring to The Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, which saw Ukraine give up its nuclear weapons while Russia promised not to attack the country. The treaty dictated that countries such as the UK and US should ‘provide assistance to Belarus, Kazakhstan or Ukraine if they should become a victim of an act of aggression or an object of a threat of aggression in which nuclear weapons are used’.
“Express.co.uk also spoke to Finnish ambassador to the UK, Jukka Siukosaari, who… responded to a threat from Russian foreign affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova who said that Finland and Sweden could face ‘military consequences’ if they try to join NATO.”
In the past, many would have dismissed such threats as typical idle Russian propaganda. But with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a different picture emerges.
Express wrote on March 13:
“VLADIMIR PUTIN will advance west towards further European capitals if he succeeds in his invasion of Ukraine, the country’s former prime minister [Volodymyr Groysman] has warned. This comes as nine people are reported dead after a Russian strike on a military base near the Ukrainian border with Poland- a NATO member and EU state. Ukrainian authorities said that up to 30 missiles were launched at the facility at Yavoriv, injuring 57 people.
“[He said:] ‘If Ukraine falls, it will mean that Putin’s troops will be on the border of the EU and Nato, and then in a year – or maybe sooner, maybe later – he will intervene in the Baltic states and Poland, for instance… So what’s going to happen then? [Some] European leaders will still be able to say, “Look, the war might become even bigger, so let’s wait [so] it doesn’t become a large-scale war, because it’s still only about Lithuania and Estonia and Poland, but it’s not about France or Great Britain or Germany.”’”
“Mr Groysman spoke of Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky’s, insistence that the West commit to a NATO-enforced no-fly zone over Ukraine. This is something the West has been unwilling to put into practice, with US President Joe Biden warning it would mean a kickstart to World War 3. But World War 3, Mr Groysman continued, may have already begun.”
If God were to allow it, Putin would most certainly attempt to conquer other European countries. And Russia will… later.
Military.com wrote on March 10:
“For some European countries watching Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine, there are fears that they could be next. Western officials say the most vulnerable could be those who aren’t members of NATO or the European Union, and thus alone and unprotected — including Ukraine’s neighbor Moldova and Russia’s neighbor Georgia, both of them formerly part of the Soviet Union — along with the Balkan states of Bosnia and Kosovo.
“But analysts warn that even NATO members could be at risk, such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on Russia’s doorstep, as well as Montenegro, either from Moscow’s direct military intervention or attempts at political destabilization.
“Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘has said right from the start that this is not only about Ukraine,’’ said Michal Baranowski, director of the German Marshall Fund’s Warsaw office…. ‘he was also talking about the eastern flank of NATO and the rest of Eastern Europe.’… EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said that ‘Russia is not going to stop in Ukraine.’”
Estonia called for the immediate establishment of a No-Fly-Zone over Ukraine.
The Sun wrote on March 16:
“RUSSIAN state TV has aired a discussion on seizing the Baltic states as Nato bolsters Eastern European allies with thousands more troops. A former senior officer laid out a chilling scenario for Putin’s army capturing Nato countries Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, as well as grabbing parts of neutral Sweden….
“After gaining their independence when the Soviet Union collapsed, all three Baltic states joined Nato and continue to fear… Putin has designs on destabilising and invading, as he’s done in Ukraine. Just such a scenario was outlined on Russian state TV channel Rossiya 1 by Colonel Igor Korotchenko, formerly of the Russian General Staff and air force and currently a reserve officer… Using maps in English with Nato troop deployments marked, he outlines in sinister detail the invasion scenario. At the beginning ‘a massive Russian radio-electronic strike is inflicted’ as ‘all Nato radars go blind and see nothing’….
“‘At this time, on the Swedish island Gotland, Russian military planes land, delivering S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems, and Bastion coastal anti-ship systems,’ he said…. Korotchenko goes on to explain [that] the Russians would push out from the enclave of Kaliningrad towards the Suwalki corridor to block access to reinforcements from Poland. ‘The astonished West and Nato will know that Russia declares a no-fly zone of 400km,’ he said… Korotchenko went on ‘that those few special forces troops of Canada, UK, Germany and the USA… will be ‘surrounded’ by… Russian airborne forces and then ‘lay down their arms’.
“The scenario ends with the new Baltic states’ governments pledging allegiance to Moscow while Sweden agrees to perpetual neutrality and a 99 lease on Gotland. The programme went out on Russian television at the end of last year but was posted by Ukrainian government advisor Anton Gerashchenko. It has echoes of a televised address given by dictator Alexander Lukashenko in which he appeared to have revealed Moldova could be the next country to be invaded by Russia.”
In an accompanying box, the Sun wrote:
“It comes as…
“Footage appears to show the horrific moment Russian soldiers shoot dead a civilian as he holds up his hands… Russia has… called for Alaska to become part of its territory again. Volodymyr Zelensky has admitted Ukraine may never join Nato… A nine-year-old girl has lost her arm after Russian forces machine-gunned her family when they tried to flee Kyiv.”
Israel Today wrote on March 9:
“Putin sees Christianity as the spiritual glue that will unify and strengthen his empire. Since becoming President of Russia, Putin has cast himself as the true defender of Christians throughout the world… In a March 2014 speech given at the Kremlin just after Russia annexed Crimea, Putin pointed to Russia’s spiritual authority over Ukraine and Belarus… On July 12, 2021 Putin again proclaimed that Moscow alone must rule over Kyiv… Putin declared to the Kremlin on February 21, 2022 that ‘Ukraine is an inalienable part of our own history, culture and spiritual space.’ This phrase has deep resonance for those who are steeped in over a thousand years of Russian religious history. Herein lies a key to his imperialistically-based invasion of Ukraine which began on February 23, 2022…
“In the days of Hitler, the West was asleep at the wheel. Chamberlain’s indecisive stutter greeted the Nazi belligerent annexation of Czech Sudetenland, where more than three million people (including many ethnic Germans) lived. Most of Europe applauded the Munich Agreement, believing that this was the best chance to prevent a major war on the European Continent… Europe’s enabling of Hitler actually opened the door to a full-blown WWII.
“Is the West ready and willing to stop Putin by responding militarily and check-mating Russia’s expansion westward… before it becomes unstoppable? We seem to be living in days which have strong parallels to those just after WWII, days when the Berlin Wall still stood unblinking, when Russia still stretched its gnarled hand across Eastern Europe. But rather than recognizing the immediacy of the threat, many in the West are responding with agonizing slowness… But would such a timid Western response have been sufficient to stop Hitler in his tracks back in the day? And what about the agonies that Ukrainians are facing…
“Some are stating that, as long as Russia does not cross into NATO-affiliated countries, there is no need to respond militarily to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Had this sort of response been the reaction to Hitler’s blitzkriegs, WWII would have been decisively lost. Should the West wait until Poland or the Baltic Countries or Hungary are overrun?”
The “Christianity” which Putin sees as the glue to unify his empire is most certainly not the Christianity of the Bible. The “spiritual” or better demonic aspect in Putin’s conduct is largely overlooked.
Fox News wrote on March 12:
“U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., says he supports imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine, despite the risks involved with the U.S. shooting down Russian aircraft and escalating the conflict…. But Mast, an Army veteran, said the risk is necessary, given Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unpredictability. ‘As much as none of us want to be in the Ukraine, if we do nothing, ultimately, everybody will be forced to be in the Ukraine as a result,’ Mast, who lost both his legs in Afghanistan, told Fox News.
“Mast said Putin may ultimately drag NATO and the U.S. into military conflict, even without a no-fly zone. ‘None of us should be under this illusion that Putin is a rational actor or operates in a proportional way,’ Mast told Fox News. ‘This guy invaded the sovereignty of…Ukraine. Just because we don’t do something doesn’t mean that Putin doesn’t still react to NATO or to the European Union or any other countries throughout Europe in some other kind of way’…
“Soon after Mast’s interview with Fox News, the Kremlin accused the U.S. of waging ‘economic war’ against Russia, and warned America to expect a response… Additionally, the Florida Republican doesn’t expect the war to end through diplomacy.”
Mast’s warnings have merit. Note the next article.
The Daily Mail wrote on March 12, 2022:
“Deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov warned the US ‘that pumping weapons from a number of countries it orchestrates isn’t just a dangerous move, it’s an action that makes those convoys legitimate targets’… Volodymyr Zelensky has slammed the West for its inaction, saying today he ‘doesn’t see any bravery from NATO’ as he pleaded for more involvement from allies in peace negotiations and more anti-missile systems, saying he is willing to pay. The wartime leader also said Putin’s forces can only take Kyiv if they ‘raze the city to the ground’…
“… after a 75-minute call with Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz [Putin raged] that Ukraine was guilty of ‘extrajudicial reprisals against dissidents, taking civilians hostage, using them as human shields, [and] putting heavy armaments in civilian areas near hospitals, schools, kindergartens.’ Scholz and Macron implored Putin to end the war and stop the brutal siege of Mariupol but a French official said he did not show any willingness for calling off his inhumane invasion. “
Putin’s claims, conduct and behavior are clearly reminiscent of Hitler’s. The Sun described Putin’s attacks on March 11 as “Devil’s Work,” the same term Hitler used when he invaded Poland.
Express wrote on March 13:
“VLADIMIR PUTIN is suffering from a condition related to dementia, Parkinson’s disease, or steroid use, international intelligence sources have claimed… Analyses have focused on how Putin, 69, appears in recent photos and footage, in conjunction with his behaviour towards diplomats and politicians…
“[Former head of MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove, said:] ‘Those around him see a marked change in the cogency and clarity of what he says and how he perceives the world around him…. People with dementia are very, very good at covering up their dementia. But eventually, it reaches a point where they can’t. And if you look at what he’s doing, Vladimir Putin is mentally unstable.”
This condition might contribute to his mental illness. But the real reason is demonic possession.
Fox News wrote on March 12:
“A guest on MSNBC [former U.S. Ambassador to Russia and Stanford University Professor Michael McFaul] was torched by critics making a comparison between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Adolf Hitler, providing a more favorable view of the Nazi dictator… ‘One of the Russian journalists said, “You know, there’s one difference between Hitler when he was coming in and Putin. Hitler didn’t kill ethnic Germans. He didn’t kill German-speaking people,”’ McFaul said…
“‘I think people need to remember that we’re talking about cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol and Kyiv, there are large populations there, you know, up to a third and sometimes as much to a half that are Russian speakers and are ethnic Russians. And yet Putin doesn’t seem to care about that. He slaughters the very people he said he has come to liberate,’ McFaul said….
“‘Hitler “didn’t kill German-speaking people” is an insanely false claim since many of the Jews murdered in the Holocaust spoke German,’ Washington Examiner reporter Jerry Dunleavy reacted, adding, ‘Pro-Tip: You don’t have to try to play weird word games to try to make Putin seem worse than Hitler — Putin is plenty bad on the objective facts.’…
“‘Okay, I’m going to express this calmly. It’s wrong to suggest that German Jews, whose families had lived in Germanic lands for centuries, weren’t ethnic Germans. Also Hitler killed German communists, German Roma, German trade unionists, German handicapped, German queers, etc,’ The Nation columnist Jeet Heer corrected McFaul…
“McFaul was even called out by the Auschwitz Memorial, which replied, ‘On a factual note: Hitler did kill ethnic Germans & German-speaking people: those who opposed the Nazi regime, those who resisted, those who did not fit into the “Weltanschauung”. He ordered the murder of people with different disabilities & finally the murder of German Jewry.’”
McFaul’s comments were just plain stupid and factually terribly incorrect. McFaul walked back his comments and made matters worse, saying: “I slipped late last night and violated an unwritten taboo– never compare Hitler with anyone. I agree. He was incomparably evil. I won’t do it again.”
Hitler was NOT incomparably evil. Others are likewise. Given the chance, Putin will prove that and own this description. The coming “beast” will be much worse.
The New York Post wrote on March 16:
“Former President Donald Trump said in an interview Tuesday that he was ‘surprised’ Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded neighboring Ukraine, having thought the threat of an attack was a negotiating ploy. ‘“I’m surprised — I’m surprised. I thought he was negotiating when he sent his troops to the border. I thought he was negotiating,’ Trump told the Washington Examiner. ‘I thought it was a tough way to negotiate, but a smart way to negotiate… And then he went in — and I think he’s changed. I think he’s changed. It’s a very sad thing for the world. He’s very much changed,’ Trump said of the Russian leader.
“The former president, who has repeatedly insisted that Russia would not have launched its invasion if he were still in the White House, defended himself against criticism from lawmakers, including some Republicans, for praising Putin just before the invasion as ‘savvy’ and a ‘genius.’… ‘I’ve been very critical of Putin from the standpoint of the pipeline, from the standpoint of raising billions and billions of dollars in NATO to protect, primarily, Europe against Russia,’ Trump said. ‘Nobody else did that.’”
How Trump could have thought that Putin was “bluffing” is hard to decipher. To ramble about it is even worse.
Hollywood Reporter wrote on March 17:
“Arnold Schwarzenggger released an emotional video Thursday addressed to the people of Russia… in an attempt to punch through Russian state propaganda… Schwarzenegger details how the fighting was instigated by Russia in February, explaining that the invasion has been declared illegal by 141 countries, that many civilian buildings (such as a maternity hospital) have been bombed, that there’s now a massive refugee crisis and that thousands of Russians have died.
“‘The world has turned against Russia because of its actions in Ukraine,’ he said. ‘The destruction that Russian bombs are raining down on innocent civilians has so outraged the world that the strongest global economic sanctions ever taken have been imposed on your country… This is not the war to defend Russia like your grandfather or your great-grandfather fought. This is an illegal war!’
“In a rarity for the Austria-born actor, Schwarzenegger also candidly invoked his father’s dark history as a Nazi sergeant when addressing the Russian government’s false claims that its troops are engaged in the ‘de-nazification’ of Ukraine. ‘[My father] was injured at Leningrad, and the Nazi army he was part of did vicious harm to the great city and to its brave people,’ he said. ‘When my father arrived in Leningrad, he was all pumped up on the lies of his government. When he left Leningrad, he was broken — physically and mentally. He lived the rest of his life in pain — pain from a broken back, pain from the shrapnel that always reminded him of those terrible years and pain from the guilt that he felt. To the Russian soldiers listening to this broadcast: You already know much of the truth that I’m speaking. You’ve seen it in your own eyes. I don’t want you to be broken like my father.’…
“In addition, the actor also addressed Putin himself: ‘To those in power in the Kremlin, let me just ask you: Why would you sacrifice these young men for your own ambition? … To President Putin, I say: You started this war. You are leading this war. You can stop this war.’
“Schwarzenegger closed with a message to Russian protesters who have risked imprisonment to take to the streets to voice opposition to the war in Ukraine. ‘The world has seen your bravery,’ he said. ‘We know that you’ve suffered the consequences of your courage. You have been arrested, you’ve been jailed, and you’ve been beaten. You are my new heroes…’”
The Jerusalem Post wrote on March 11:
“Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he recommends Ukraine take the offer made by Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war – which includes many Ukrainian sacrifices… According to the official, Zelensky and his people did not like the advice.
“‘Bennett told us to surrender,’ said the official. ‘We have no intention of doing so. We know Putin’s offer is only the beginning.’… The official also said that Israel asked Ukraine not to request more military and defense aid because such a request could harm the mediation efforts….
“Ukrainian officials believe that Bennett’s involvement in diplomatic efforts comes from his not wanting to take a clear stance regarding the Russian invasion from fear that it will harm Israel’s ties with Russia.”
Bennet’s conduct in the Russian-Ukrainian affair was dubious from the outset.
The Algemeiner wrote on March 12:
“A top Ukrainian adviser and an Israeli official on Saturday pushed back against a media report suggesting Israel tried to nudge Ukraine into caving to Russian demands during talks.”
Express wrote on March 11:
“Alex Konanykhin left Russia in 1992 and seven years later became the first Russian citizen to be granted political asylum in the United States from post-Soviet Russia. Last week, the businessman announced via social media he is offering a reward of $1 million for the arrest of Putin… his motives for doing this were because he does not want to be ‘confused for most Russians who either actively supported or are silently complicit in Putin’s war against Ukraine’. Mr Konanykhin’s social media post received millions of likes and huge media attention. He said reaction to his post shows Putin ‘is going to be a close second to Hitler in history in the number of people who would cheer his demise’…
“Mr Konanykhin… believes there are ‘eerie similarities’ between the actions of Putin and those of Hitler. He said: ‘Putin is imitating Hitler to such a degree as if he got Hitler’s playbook out of the archives, and is simply going through it page by page.’”
A clear reference to Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.”
Deutsche Welle wrote on March 14:
“From the beginning of the war in Ukraine, it was clear that China would not condemn Russia’s invasion… Last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi… blamed a ‘Cold War mentality’ as the real reason for the war in Ukraine… China’s talk of a Cold War mentality and Russia’s justifications that its actions are intended to defend itself from NATO are hypocritical…
“In Russia’s worldview, it is impossible to conceive that sovereign states such as Ukraine would make use of their sovereignty and decide of their own free will in favor of democracy and closer ties with the European Union. The fact that Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, has its own ideas about its future is also unacceptable to Beijing, which sees Taiwan as a Chinese province.”
Military.com wrote on March 11:
“China considers Taiwan a breakaway province, and Xi has vowed to pursue ‘reunification.’ While U.S. officials say Xi would prefer to accomplish that through coercive measures short of all-out war, they add he is prepared to use military force if need be… Weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Putin and Xi signed a pact that declared there were ‘no limits’ or ‘’forbidden’ areas of cooperation’ between Russia and China.”
Newsmax wrote on March 13:
“Pope Francis issued his toughest condemnation yet of the invasion of Ukraine, saying on Sunday the ‘unacceptable armed aggression’ must stop… Francis also said that the killing of children and unarmed civilians was ‘barbaric’ and with ‘no valid strategic reason.’… ‘In the name of God I ask you: stop this massacre!,’ the pope said, adding that Ukrainian cities risked ‘being reduced to cemeteries.’
“The pope has not used the word ‘Russia’ in his condemnations of the war… But his choice of words… appear aimed at contesting Moscow’s justifications for the invasion… Last Sunday Francis [said] it could not be considered ‘just a military operation’ but a war that had unleashed ‘rivers of blood and tears.’”
CNN wrote on March 12:
“The biggest problem is wheat… Supplies from Russia and Ukraine, which together account for almost 30% of global wheat trade, are now at risk. Global wheat prices hit an all-time high earlier this week. Another major problem is access to fertilizer. Essential for farmers to hit their production targets for crops, it’s never been more expensive, as exports from Russia grind to a halt. Output in Europe has also plunged thanks to the surging price of natural gas, a key ingredient in nitrogen-based fertilizers like urea…
“Egypt just banned the export of wheat, flour, lentils and beans amid growing concerns over food reserves in the Arab world’s most populous state. Indonesia has also tightened export restrictions on palm oil, which is a component in cooking oil as well as in cosmetics and some packaged goods like chocolate. It’s the world’s top producer of the product…
“Even before Russia launched a war in Ukraine, the global food system was strained. Snarled supply chains and unpredictable weather patterns… had already pushed food prices to their highest level in about a decade. Affordability was also an issue after the pandemic left millions out of work.
“The number of people on the edge of famine has jumped to 44 million from 27 million in 2019… Russia and Ukraine serve as the breadbasket for countries in the Middle East, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa that depend on imports… The brewing crisis goes beyond wheat and oils. Russia, along with its ally Belarus, is also a major exporter of the fertilizers needed to plant a wide range of crops. But right now, everyone is shunning their stock…”
The Washington Post wrote on March 12:
“Houses filled with the dead were common in Ukraine in 1932 and 1933. Those who collected the corpses knew where to stop if they saw ravens nearby. And sometimes the emaciated living were carted away with the deceased. Desperate, starving people, deprived of their livelihood by ruthless edicts of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, were forced to eat grass, tree bark, flowers, rats, dogs and, in the end, their children, historians have recorded. People died in the streets, on sidewalks, in train stations, in farm fields and on country roads. About 4 million of them perished in the great famine, known as the Holodomor, or death by hunger.
“Today, as Ukraine battles Russian invaders and the dead again lie in the streets of places, including Mariupol, that have been cut off from supplies, memory of the famine and its links to the Kremlin remain strong… Thirteen percent of the Ukrainian population perished… as Stalin enforced ‘collectivization’ through the seizure of private property, livestock and equipment by the state, and brutally punished peasants for failure to meet quotas by taking the last of their food. Fearful of simmering Ukrainian nationalism, Stalin applied economic ‘sanctions’ to regions that could not fulfill government requisitions.
“Just as now, people jammed into trains to try to leave the country… Stalin decided to close the Ukrainian border and make it difficult for people to escape or go from village to village inside Ukraine. He sent in special requisition brigades to scour the homes of the starving for hidden goods…
“The result was a catastrophe… Combined with the complete absence of food they also produced, in the Ukrainian countryside, a very rare form of madness… Many survivors witnessed either cannibalism or, far more often, necrophagy, the consumption of corpses of people who had died of starvation…
“And as Russian President Vladimir Putin lies to his people today about the invasion of Ukraine, the lie Stalin told about the famine lives on, too… In 2015, Sputnik News, a Kremlin propaganda website, published an article in English called ‘Holodomor Hoax.’ The famine, it said, was ‘one of the 20th century’s most famous myths and vitriolic pieces of anti-Soviet propaganda.’”
The article contained numerous explicit examples of cannibalism… These terrible events are prophesied to be repeated, at a much larger scale, in the very last days. To be clear, we have no doubt that Stalin was demonically possessed as well.
Deutsche Welle wrote on March 11, 2022:
“The heads of all 27 EU states pledged to strengthen their ties with Kyiv and ‘support Ukraine in pursuing its European path’ following a two-day summit in Versailles, France. In a joint statement, the EU leaders also said that ‘Ukraine belongs to the European family.’ However, they rejected the plea by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to quickly accept Ukraine into the EU… The accession process normally takes years or even decades, with the candidate nation required to meet a number of EU-set criteria. The host of the summit, French President Emmanuel Macron, said the bloc would not make exceptions for Ukraine…
“German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was also against the idea, pointing instead to the association agreement that the EU made with Kyiv in 2017 as a way to deepen ties… Meanwhile, Scholz said the EU sanctions had already had ‘dramatic consequences’ for the Russian economy, while arguing that stopping Russian oil and gas imports was not tenable for several EU members.”
Die Welt described the summit in France as a “summit of shame” and stated that Scholz did not cut a good figure. Zelensky’s disappointment with NATO and with the EU, especially Germany, should be noted.
Grip.ie wrote on March 13:
“Poland – one of the EU’s poorest countries – has accepted 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees in two weeks since the Russian invasion began… As Poland reels from this influx of new arrivals, struggling financially to accommodate them, the European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to put economic sanctions on both Hungary and Poland. 478 MEPs voted in favour, and only 155 voted against….
“The parliament declared that it was now ‘high time’ for the European Commission to ‘react to the ongoing violations of the rule of law in some EU member states, which pose a danger to the European Union’s financial interests.’… The EU will deprive Poland and Hungary of billions of euros in funds, claiming that they have seized political control over the media and judiciary. Poland and Hungary have denied the accusations, accusing the EU in return of blackmailing their countries, and saying some EU resolutions are incompatible with their constitutions and they are merely attempting to implement judicial reforms.”
All of this shows the total hypocrisy of the EU.
The Sun wrote on March 17:
“FRANCE, Germany and Italy side-stepped an arms embargo to sell weapons to Vladimir Putin that are being used to slaughter Ukrainians. On a day of shame for the EU, it emerged that member states sold hundreds of millions of pounds of military kit to Russia between 2015 and 2020.”
AFP wrote on March 17:
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday called on Germany to help destroy a new ‘Wall’ Russia was erecting in Europe, as he appealed directly to Chancellor Olaf Scholz to bolster his tentative response to the invasion. In a speech combining an appeal for fresh aid for his besieged country with criticism of Berlin’s long accommodating stance toward Moscow, Zelensky recalled Germany’s own triumph over its Cold War division. ‘It’s not a Berlin Wall — it is a Wall in central Europe between freedom and bondage and this Wall is growing bigger with every bomb’ dropped on Ukraine, Zelensky told MPs, echoing an appeal to history deployed before the US Congress Wednesday.
“Appearing on a screen in his now trademark khaki T-shirt with dark circles under his eyes, Zelensky was welcomed by MPs in the Bundestag lower house with a standing ovation. In a grave tone, he directly addressed Scholz, who faced fresh attacks from the conservative opposition for a halting stance in the crisis. ‘Dear Mr Scholz, tear down this Wall,’ he implored, evoking US President Ronald Reagan’s 1987 appeal to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate. ‘Give Germany the leadership role that you in Germany deserve.’… ‘We turned to you,’ he said. ‘We told you that Nord Stream (gas pipeline cooperation between Russia and Germany) was a kind of preparation for the war. And the answer we got was purely economic — it is economy, economy, economy, but that was the mortar for the new Wall.’…
“Christian Democrat Norbert Roettgen, who is calling for a total Russian energy embargo, led a chorus of conservative criticism of the government after Zelensky’s speech, saying Scholz should have addressed parliament immediately afterwards. He tweeted that the ‘historic moment’ had been followed by ‘total silence — that was undignified… a moment of collective shame’. His party colleague, Roderich Kiesewetter, called it ‘baffling’ that parliament continued with plans to debate a national vaccine mandate rather than on Germany’s Ukraine policy.”
Bild Online called it a “day of shame” for the German Parliament.
Fox News wrote on March 12:
“A series of missiles were fired Sunday from Iran in the direction of the U.S. consulate in Erbil, Iraq… The missiles numbered as many as 12… None of the missiles made contact with the consulate… The strike represented an escalation in hostilities between Iran and the U.S…. The missile strike came several days after Iran said it would respond to an Israeli strike near Damascus, Syria, that resulted in the deaths of two members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard…
“The Sunday strike also came as negotiations in Vienna, on the potential revival of the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal, hit a ‘pause’ because of Russia’s demands regarding economic sanctions it faces because of its invasion of Ukraine…”
Wherever one looks, the USA is in deep trouble.
Newsmax wrote on March 11:
“The Biden administration’s one-month extension of mask mandates at airplane, train, and transit hubs has left many Americans wondering why they still must cover their faces to travel when they’re free to go maskless in virtually any other indoor space.
“The 30-day extension, which will keep the mask requirement in place until at least April 18, comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced it’s working on new guidelines that will ultimately lead to the lifting of the rule, squashing the hopes of Republican lawmakers who hoped to see the mandates be allowed to expire on March 18.”
The extension of these regulations by the Biden administration is annoying and, in fact, just plain stupid.
The New York Post wrote on March 15:
“The federal rule that requires air travelers to wear face masks, which the Transportation Security Administration first imposed more than a year ago, was scheduled to expire this Friday. But the TSA extended the requirement for at least another month, for reasons even harder to understand than the original rationale for the mask mandate.
“That is saying a lot, because the scientific justification for the TSA’s rule has always been weak, given that the conditions on airplanes are not conducive to COVID-19 transmission. The ventilation systems on commercial aircraft, which mix outdoor air with air recycled through HEPA filters and limit airflow between rows, help explain why there were few outbreaks associated with commercial flights even before vaccines were available. ‘The risk of contracting COVID-19 during air travel is low,’ an October 2020 article in The Journal of the American Medical Association noted…
“Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly reiterated that point during a Senate hearing in December. ‘I think the case is very strong that masks don’t add much, if anything, in the air cabin environment,’ he said. ‘It is very safe and very high quality compared to any other indoor setting.’ American Airlines CEO Doug Parker agreed. ‘An aircraft is the safest place you can be,’ he said. ‘It’s true of all of our aircraft — they all have the same HEPA filters and airflow.’
“On Feb. 25, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stopped recommending general indoor masking in parts of the country it rates ‘low’ or ‘medium’ risk, which as of last week covered more than 98% of the US population. According to the CDC, then, it is safe to dispense with masks in stores, churches, schools, bars and restaurants — environments where the risk of virus transmission is much higher than it is on airplanes…”
Who said that mask mandates and lockdowns and other restrictions made any sense whatsoever?
Life Site wrote on March 15:
“The Council of the European Union (EU) on Friday agreed to extend the EU’s Digital COVID Certificate until at least June 2023, re-igniting concerns that the discriminatory measures imposed ostensibly to curtail the spread of the coronavirus could persist indefinitely… In the statement, the Council asserted that the EU’s COVID jab passport, which has been used to segregate society between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, barring those who haven’t gotten the jab from many parts of society, ‘played an important role in facilitating the free movement of people during the pandemic.’
“The decision to extend the regulation for the COVID pass comes despite the fact that the experimental drugs have not been shown to stop transmissions of the virus. The segregation of society by vaccine status using COVID jab passport schemes has drawn sharp criticism by many, including the authors of a comprehensive paper released last month.
“Written by researchers with expertise in public health, epidemiology, bioethics, statistics, pediatrics and law from Johns Hopkins University, Oxford, Harvard, the University of Washington, and other institutions, the paper argued that ‘current population-wide mandatory vaccine policies are scientifically questionable, ethically problematic, and misguided.’…”
Amen to that.
Breitbart wrote on March 11:
“President Joe Biden complained Friday he was ‘sick’ of Americans blaming him for inflation instead of the coronavirus pandemic or Russian President Vladimir Putin… The President made his remarks at a Democrat policy retreat to Democrats in Philadelphia in a rambling speech about issues facing his presidency…
“The President is suffering from terrible ratings on the economy due to his failure to address inflation. Sixty-three percent of Americans disapprove of the president’s handling of the issue of inflation and rising prices,… including 54 percent who strongly disapprove.
“During his speech, Biden falsely blamed Putin’s invasion of Ukraine for causing gas prices to rise in 2022, starting in January… But even former Democrat officials have outlined that Biden’s reckless spending agenda, as well as the Federal Reserves’ policies, overstimulated the economy and led to growing inflation.
“Former Treasury Secretary for Barack Obama Larry Summers told the Harvard Gazette in an interview that government intervention in the economy is partially responsible for inflation, suggesting it was an overreaction to the coronavirus pandemic. ‘We had an economy where income was running short by $50 billion a month because of the pandemic, and we injected $150 billion to $200 billion a month into that economy,’ he wrote. [In fact, Larry Summers called the $1.9T spending bill which passed in March 2021 “”the least responsible economic policy in 40 years.”]
“‘This is Biden’s inflation and he needs to own it,’ wrote former Barack Obama administration czar Steve Rattner on social media after the White House tried to blame Putin for inflation. Inflation sharply spiked in March 2021, after Biden’s first $1.9 trillion spending bill passed.”
There is no doubt that Biden’s ill-conceived policies are responsible for the rising inflation and the economic mess which this country is in. But it takes a strong leader to admit grievous mistakes and change for the better. Biden is not such a strong leader.
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 Q&A in this series, we began to look at some great relationships in the pages of the Bible.
Relationships – Great Relationships in the Bible (continued).
In this final instalment, we will continue to review some more interesting relationships.
Job and His Friends
Job is described in Job 1:1-3 as the greatest of all the people in the East, and he had seven sons, three daughters and many possessions. However, Satan was allowed to tempt him, but not to take his life (Job 2:6). In his hour of need, he was visited by his three friends:
“Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with him, and to comfort him. And when they raised their eyes from afar, and did not recognize him, they lifted their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven. So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great” (Job 2:11-13).
At the beginning, their concern, compassion and attitude were sincere and commendable. But as the story unfolds, his friends became condemnatory and accused Job incorrectly of all kinds of sins, because they did not understand—and neither did Job—why Job was suffering, concluding that Job must have greatly sinned to deserve such punishment. God wanted to show Job that he had to overcome his self-righteousness, but the three friends could not see that, while condemning Job of sins he was not guilty of (Job 32:3). God became angry with Job’s three friends and was willing to punish them severely, because they “have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has” (Job 42:7). While Job had repented “in dust and ashes” for the wrong things he had said against God, his three friends did not show the same kind of remorse. So, God asked Job to pray for them so that He would not deal with them “according to [their] folly” (verse 8). The remarkable conclusion is that Job WAS willing to pray for his three friends, even though they had shown themselves as accusers without mercy and compassion.
In the end, it all worked out. The former relationship when his friends made the time out of genuine concern to be with Job when he was in great distress, was restored.
Paul and Timothy
Timothy was a relatively young Evangelist, but Paul had full confidence in him. In 2 Timothy 1:1-2, we read: “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, a beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.”
McLaren’s Expositions observes: “PAUL’S heart had been drawn to Timothy long before this letter was written, as far back as the beginning of his second missionary journey, and Timothy had cherished the enthusiastic devotion of a young man for his great leader. He seems to have been the best beloved of the circle which the magnetism of Paul’s character bound to him.”
There is no doubt that the two had a close relationship and friendship, and in verses 3-7, Paul writes about Timothy’s faith and heritage. Paul had laid hands on Timothy and reminded him to stir up the gift of God which he had received.
We read in Acts 19:22 that Timothy and Erastus had ministered to Paul, and Timothy was with Paul, as we read in Philemon 1. Paul refers to him as “our brother and minister of God, and our fellow labourer in the gospel of Christ,” and he was confident that Timothy would be able to “establish” and “encourage” the brethren concerning [their] faith” (1 Thessalonians 3:2). Paul also referred affectionately to Timothy as “my true son in the faith” (1Timothy 1:2).
Abraham and God
“My friend”—that is how God referred to the patriarch Abraham (Isaiah 41:8: James 2:23; compare also 2 Chronicles 20:7 where Abraham is referred to as God’s friend “forever”). What a remarkable relationship where a limited, physical, mortal human being is thought of by the all-powerful, immortal, all-knowing, supreme God as His dearly loved friend. This friendship developed, and when God tested him by commanding him to slay his son Isaac as a sacrifice, Abraham was willing to obey. God wanted to see whether Abraham loved Him more than anything or anyone else, and Abraham trusted God so much that he understood that God would never ask something of him which would betray their friendship. Abraham could have thought of many reasons why he should not kill Isaac, but he proceeded as God had commanded him. He proved his faith by his works. And we know how well that situation worked out! God had not really intended for Abraham to kill his son, but Abraham did not know this. But he knew that God had promised him that he would become a father of many nations, through Isaac, and that God cannot lie.
And so, we read about Abraham’s motives and thoughts in Hebrews 11:17-19:
“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called,’ concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.”
David and God
David’s relationship with God was personal from the time that he was a very young man until the day he spoke his last words when he was dying. In Acts 13:22 we read: “And when He had removed [Saul], He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’” This was because of his attitude toward God. In Psalm 63:1-2 we read: “O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.”
In 1 Kings 2:1-3, we read: “Now the days of David drew near that he should die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying: ‘I go the way of all the earth; be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man. And keep the charge of the Lord your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn…’”
David had many faults and committed many sins, but once he recognized his mistakes and sins, he repented deeply. God, knowing his heart, appreciated this character trait tremendously. David loved God and His law (Psalm 119:10, 16, 35, 47, 97). His focus was on God and that is why he had such a strong and personal relationship with God.
John and Jesus
John 13:23 gives us an indication of the close relationship John had with Jesus: “Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.” The Benson Commentary observes: “This was John, the memory of whose sweet disposition, and other amiable qualities, is perpetuated in the peculiar love which Jesus bare to him. He always avoids with great care the expressly naming himself.”
Even Peter requested of John to ask Jesus who would betray Him, rather than asking Him personally (John 13:24).
We note Jesus’ words on the cross in John 19:26-27: “When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, ‘Woman, behold your son!’ Then He said to the disciple, ‘Behold your mother!’ And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.” He was the disciple who is noted as being at the crucifixion, and he was told by Jesus to look after His mother. That certainly indicates a very close personal relationship, and the trust and confidence which Jesus had in John that he would fulfil that responsibility. It is remarkable that Jesus did not ask any of His other disciples, nor any of His half-brothers, to care for Mary. John had without any doubt a very special relationship with Christ. Even after His resurrection, Peter recognized this relationship. Christ had told Him three times that he was to feed and tend His sheep. He also told him that he would glorify God through his death as a martyr. It was at that moment that we read in John 21:20-23:
“Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, ‘Lord, who is the one who betrays You?’ Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, ‘But Lord, what about this man?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.’ Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, ‘If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?’”
Apparently at that moment of jealousy, Peter, very well aware of the special relationship between Christ and John, wanted to know about John’s fate. But Christ told him bluntly: That is none of your business. You do what I told you to do. John lived on, writing the gospel according to John, three letters, and the book of Revelation. Then he died, to be resurrected within the next second of his consciousness to be with his beloved Friend, being like Him, seeing Him as He is (1 John 3:2).
Jesus and Mankind
Real friends are loyal to each other when the going is easy and also when it is tough. They support and sacrifice for each other and their relationship is usually very strong and close. The ultimate degree of friendship was described by Jesus when He stated: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). Jesus gave His life for us and if we want to be His friend, we must be willing to go all the way in proving our loyalty to Him: “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you” (John 15:14).
What is unrealised by the world at large is that “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44; compare John 6:65). Those called now can have, and must have, that close personal relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ, and those not called at this time will have their opportunity at a later time.
Christ calls us His friends and encourages us not to be afraid of men, but to have reverence and respect for God (Luke 12:4-5), assuring us of His great love and concern for us (verses 6 and 7). He told us—His friends–everything we need to know in order to inherit salvation (John 15:15). He called Lazarus His friend, whom He loved and resurrected (John 11:5, 11).
Jesus said to His disciples in John 15:16: “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.” The same is true today. God the Father wants those whom He chooses at this time, to have a close personal relationship with Him and His Son. But this relationship can only be obtained and maintained if we refuse to be friends of the world and its evil way of life (James 4:4).
Conclusion.
The Bible is replete with information about relationships, as we have seen in this series. Even the genealogies that we read about in the pages of God’s Word are all indicative of inevitable relationships.
The most important relationship of all is the one that we have with God, as this will determine our future as well as being the right and godly way to live in this present evil world.
Lead Writers: Brian Gale (United Kingdom) and Norbert Link
compiled by Dave Harris
“The Ukraine War and America’s Unreliability and Decline,” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link, Here is a summary:
How reliable is America? Do America’s allies really look at the USA as a dependable partner? Or do they think America’s leadership role is gone and they must find an alternative? And will that alternative be friendly towards the USA?
“Werden Sie wegen Putin abfallen?” is the title of this Sabbath’s new German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “Will You Fall Away Because of Putin?”
“I Don’t Feel Like It,” the sermonette presented last Sabbath by Eric Rank, is now posted. Here is a summary:
It is a natural human tendency to take the easy route when faced with challenges. Staying motivated to keep God’s commandments and love the Truth requires overcoming impulses to neglect our commitment to God.
“When Trouble Comes,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Dave Harris, is now posted. Here is a summary:
How can we be, as Jesus said, “counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man”?
This Update is an official publication by the ministry of the Church of the Eternal God in the United States of America; the Church of God, a Christian Fellowship in Canada; and the Global Church of God in the United Kingdom.
Editorial Team: Norbert Link, Dave Harris, Rene Messier, Brian Gale, Margaret Adair, Johanna Link, Eric Rank, Michael Link, Anna Link, Kalon Mitchell, Manuela Mitchell, Dawn Thompson
Technical Team: Eric Rank, Shana Rank
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The Week wrote on March 5:
“Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it was common for analysts in the West to presume a war on Europe’s eastern edge would provoke rancorous division over how to respond within the European Union and NATO… In fact, the diametric opposite has occurred. Europe has been united and resolute…
“Russian President Vladimir Putin has inadvertently accomplished what often seemed impossible — bringing the continent together on foreign policy and thereby laying a solid foundation for a true United States of Europe. The implications for the EU and the U.S. alike will be profound…
“Just as Napoleon’s conquering army unintentionally inspired national self-consciousness and aspirations among formerly disparate European peoples, so Putin’s invasion has provoked unity in the continent as a whole, as members of the EU have felt deeply threatened by a common adversary…
“The European Union has never thought and acted more like a coherent political entity than it’s doing right now… As it does, the EU will keep evolving toward becoming a fully autonomous super-state — a liberal multinational empire that takes increasing responsibility for its own defense….”
While the unsuspecting and ignorant world approves of this development, the consequences will be disastrous.
The Washington Post wrote on March 3:
“In Germany, a nation that shrank from confrontation with Moscow after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the evidence is a historic military buildup announced in response to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine…
“When Moscow annexed Crimea and Russian-backed forces seized parts of eastern Ukraine in 2014, the German titans of industry demurred, urging then-Chancellor Angela Merkel to tread lightly… When Merkel sought to impose sanctions on Russia following its initial aggression in Ukraine in 2014, polls showed a majority of Germans against them.
“Fast forward to now…Olaf Scholz, once a word-parsing waffler on Moscow, announced a historic ramp up in military spending to meet the Russian threat… a recent poll showed 78 percent of the Germans backed Scholz’s plan…
“In France…. a new poll showed 84 percent of respondents believe you can’t ‘negotiate’ with Putin and 7 out of 10 backed arms deliveries to Ukraine. Surprisingly, a majority — 53 percent — even backed a step ruled out by leaders in Washington and the capitals of Europe: the intervention of NATO’s armed forces in Ukraine… Macron is seizing the moment to push his vision for a European army… ‘We cannot let others defend ourselves; whether on land, at sea, under the sea, in the air, in space or in cyberspace,’ Macron said in a televised speech Wednesday night. ‘Our European defense must take a new step.’
“The historic push for stronger, collective defense in Europe is the culmination of an awakening to the Russian threat after years of sleepwalking through Russian aggression. But it’s also an acknowledgment of the unpredictability of U.S. politics. Polls show public support for President Biden and former president Donald Trump… as roughly similar…
“A litany of European gas and oil companies — BP, Shell and Equinor — are pulling the plug on their Russian investments, hitting the Kremlin where it hurts: its energy sector… the Russian threat has crystallized for the British people. In a September poll, 34 percent of Britons considered Russia a ‘hostile threat.’ Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, that figure almost doubled, to 64 percent.”
Will the Russian invasion of Ukraine cause Europe to establish a powerful European army to be able to “defend” against Russian aggression? German Finance minister Christian Lindner (FDP) stated that the Bundeswehr is to become the strongest army in Europe.
Deutsche Welle wrote on March 8:
“The US will stop importing oil and natural gas from Russia, US President Joe Biden has said…. ‘ We will not be part of subsidizing Putin’s war,’ Biden said, describing energy imports as ‘the main artery of Russia’s economy.’ The US president also warned oil companies and their partners against ‘excessive price increases’ as the war and fears of more bans drive up energy prices on the global market…
“Biden said… in Europe… many of them might not join the boycott… German Chancellor Olaf Scholz [said] on Monday [oil and gas imports from Russia] were ‘essential’ to daily life in Europe. On Tuesday, the European Commission published plans to cut EU dependency on Russian gas by two-thirds this year and end its reliance on Russian supplies of the fuel ‘well before 2030.’ Just ahead of Biden’s announcement, the UK said they would phase out Russian oil imports by the end of 2022…
“Biden acknowledged that the latest ban would cause fuel prices to rise even more…”
Newsmax added on March 8:
“Former President Donald Trump criticized Europe on Tuesday for not joining the United States in boycotting Russian oil and gas. ‘… As usual the United States will be left out there alone, being taken advantage of by Europe, as we defend them, while we read in the Fake News how everyone has come together under [President Joe] Biden to fight Russia.’”
Fox News wrote on March 8:
“The Biden administration has repeatedly touted the fact that oil production in Biden’s first year in office was higher than in Trump’s first year in office. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during Monday’s briefing that ‘the U.S. produced more oil this past year than in President Trump’s first year.’ Biden sounded a similar note Tuesday during his remarks announcing a ban on Russian energy imports. ‘Even amid the pandemic, companies in the United States pumped more oil during my first year in office than they did during my predecessor’s first year,’ Biden said.
“But the White House’s framing omits a key fact: while domestic oil production in 2021 was higher than it was in 2017, it was lower than it was in 2018, 2019 and 2020… The White House spin comes amid increasing Democratic anxiety about the political impacts of record-setting gas prices ahead of the midterm elections…”
Fox News reported on March 8:
“Russia threatened to close its main gas line to Germany, late Monday, if Western nations ban Russian oil imports… Alexander Novak, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, warned that the ‘rejection of Russian oil would lead to catastrophic consequences for the global market,’ suggesting the price per barrel could double to $300… Given the European Union gets 40% of its gas and 30% of its oil from Russia, Novak asserted it would be ‘impossible to quickly find a replacement for Russian oil on the European market.’”
Bloomberg wrote on March 4:
“For years, the U.S. warned Germany of building up a dangerous energy dependence on Russia, the source of more than half of its fossil fuel imports. Now that the war in Ukraine has shocked Berlin into the same conclusion, the government is finding that changing course might be too late.
“… Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government has said the country’s gas needs are covered until next winter. But Europe’s gas storage facilities are now less than a third full, well below the average for this time of the year. To compensate for lost Russian gas, Germany would need deliveries from the world’s entire 600-vessel fleet of liquefied natural gas tankers…
“For now, Moscow has given no indication that it may cut off supplies, while Germany opposes sanctions or political pressure that would prompt a full energy embargo. But already, Berlin is in crisis mode. Highlighting the sense of urgency, the government has authorized a 1.5 billion-euro ($1.7 billion) ad-hoc payment to secure LNG [Liquefied Natural Gas]. At current prices, that’s only about a week’s worth of gas… and LNG is typically at least 10% more expensive than supplies piped from Russia…
“In the event of a supply shutdown, Uniper would likely be one of the first companies to feel the fallout. The Dusseldorf-based utility has more than half of its long-term gas contracts with Russia and faces a bleak future if those supplies get cut off. That would have a knock-on effect on consumers and factories dependent on its electricity…
“German oil and gas producer Wintershall Dea AG… wrote down 1 billion euros invested in the controversial $11 billion project [Nord Stream 2 Pipeline], which had long irked the U.S. because of the Russian connection but was nevertheless nearing completion until the government halted certification. The first Nord Stream pipeline, which bypasses Ukraine to connect Germany directly with Russian gas fields, was opened by former Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2011, calling it a ‘remarkable achievement.’
“Scholz also announced plans to fast-track construction of the country’s first LNG terminals, but that would still take years. In the short term, the government released a crisis plan, including building up coal reserves for power plants and forcing gas firms to keep minimum storage levels — nearly a third of that capacity is controlled by Russia’s Gazprom PJSC in a further sign of Germany’s dependence.
“… Insurers Euler Hermes and Allianz SE estimate that it would require 170 billion euros in investment a year for the European Union to gain independence from Russian energy…
“Russia supplies more than half of Germany’s gas, half of its coal and roughly a third of its oil… Russia shutting down deliveries isn’t a far-fetched scenario, because gas only provides the government with a quarter of the revenue compared with oil…
“A gas shortage could prompt BASF to halt some factories, dealing a blow to supplies of materials used in cars, fertilizers and medicines across Europe… which advises hundreds of companies in Germany… ‘This is the biggest energy crisis people in Europe have faced since the Second World War,’ said [Wolfgang] Hahn, owner of Energy Consulting GmbH.”
So what is Germany going to do?
Breitbart wrote on March 4:
“Berlin had planned to send Ukraine 2,700 ‘Strela’ rockets dating back to the German Communist era, as part of the weapons package Germany had prepared to help Kyiv fend off the Russian invasion, but at least 700 have been revealed to be defective, with the boxes they’re stored in being described as ‘mouldy’.
“The rockets had initially been designed for use by the National People’s Army of the Soviet-controlled German Democratic Republic (GDR), which ceased to exist in 1990… A classified military document that was leaked by Spiegel magazine… has said that: ‘Owing to the obsolescence of the rocket motor, the Strela missile is no longer safe to handle, so it can no longer be fired’. As a result of neglect, small cracks had formed on the rockets, which led to corrosion.
“The German army, known as the Bundeswehr, have not used the GDR’s weapons since 2014 citing ‘security reasons’, and since then the wooden boxes holding the missiles have rotted and become covered in mould – to the extent that soldiers are only allowed to enter the rooms storing the rockets if they wear protective clothing, German magazine Focus reports…
“Of the maximum of 2,000 rockets that are still combat-ready, it has been reported that the Bundeswehr no longer have the handpieces that are needed to fire the ordinance, with the German military hoping the Ukrainians have access to them or they may not be able to use the shoulder-fired missiles.
“Germany had initially declined to send lethal aid to Ukraine… Germany had provided 5,000 helmets to Kyiv, a move that was widely mocked by some as poor even as a token gesture…
“After much reluctance, Germany also blocked the approval process for Nord Stream 2, the 764 mile-long natural gas pipeline that would connect Russia and Germany…”
How could Berlin have been so stupid and incompetent?
Newsmax wrote on March 4:
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called NATO ‘weak’ and ‘underconfident’ on Friday for refusing the establishment of a no-fly zone over Ukraine… NATO argued establishing such a zone could escalate the conflict into a wider European war. ‘The only way to implement a no-fly zone is to send NATO fighter planes into Ukrainian airspace, and then impose that no-fly zone by shooting down Russian planes,’ NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said… ‘We understand the desperation, but we also believe that if we did that, we would end up with something that could end in a full-fledged war in Europe,’ he added.
“Zelenskyy lambasted the organization… claiming the country has been thrown into ‘nine days of darkness’ without assistance from NATO. ‘Knowing that new strikes and casualties are inevitable, NATO deliberately decided not to close the sky over Ukraine,’ Zelenskyy claimed. ‘Because of your weakness, because of your disunity, all the alliance has managed to do so far is to carry fifty tons of diesel fuel for Ukraine,’ he continued. ‘Is this the alliance you were building?’
“Zelenskyy further disputed claims that a no-fly zone would create a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia… The White House has, so far, shown the same hesitancy towards the no-fly zone idea as NATO… Press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Thursday, ‘It would require, essentially, the U.S. military shooting down Russian planes and prompting a potential direct war with Russia, the exact step that we want to avoid.’”
The Guardian added on March 4:
“Volodymyr Zelenskyy has critisized Nato for refusing to implement a no-fly zone over Ukraine, saying the decision has given ‘the green light for further bombing of Ukrainian towns and villages’. ‘All the people who die from this day forward will also die because of you, because of your weakness, because of your lack of unity,’ the Ukrainian president said in an emotional nighttime address.”
Axios also quoted Zelenskyy as saying that if Ukraine fell, “Europe will not stand… If we will fall, you will fall so please don’t be silent, do not turn the blind on eye on this.”
Germany has also rejected the idea of a no-fly zone, and so has much of Europe. Would Stoltenberg and the Western allies really act differently if Russia were to attack a NATO member state?
Die Welt wrote on March 8:
“With regard to NATO, Zelenskyy was disappointed. He said that the alliance is not ready to accept Ukraine as a member. ‘The alliance is afraid of controversial issues and a dispute with Russia.’ He indicated that he would not join. He said that Ukraine is not a country that begs for something on its knees. Since the constitution was changed in 2019, joining NATO has been the declared goal of the former Soviet republic.”
The Hindu wrote on March 8:
“In another apparent nod aimed at placating Moscow, Mr. Zelenskyy said he is open to ‘compromise’ on the status of two breakaway pro-Russian territories [in eastern Ukraine — Donetsk and Luhansk] that President Vladimir Putin recognised as independent just before unleashing the invasion on February 24. ‘I have cooled down regarding this question a long time ago after we understood that … NATO is not prepared to accept Ukraine,’ Zelenskyy said in an interview aired on Monday night (U.S. time) on ABC News…
“When ABC asked him about this Russian demand, Mr. Zelenskyy said he was open to dialogue… He said these two regions ‘have not been recognised by anyone but Russia… But we can discuss and find the compromise on how these territories will live on… What is important to me is how the people in those territories are going to live who want to be part of Ukraine, who in Ukraine will say that they want to have them in,’ Mr. Zelenskyy said…”
Fox News wrote on March 5:
“Putin said Saturday that Moscow will view any attempt by other countries to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine as active ‘participation in the armed conflict.’… ‘That very second, we will view them as participants of the military conflict, and it would not matter what members they are,’ the Russian president said… Putin pledged that the ‘realization’ of demands to do so would ‘bring catastrophic results not only to Europe, but to the whole world’ and called western sanctions against Russia ‘akin to [or almost] a declaration of war.’…
“In addition, Putin reportedly said Ukraine could potentially lose its statehood if its leaders continue to resist Russia’s military invasion.”
Putin keeps threatening the West which bows down to him in horror and fear. But if he feels that NATO has already declared war on him, what then is NATO waiting for?
Times of Israel reported on March 6:
“US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the United States was ‘working actively’ on a deal with Poland to supply Ukraine with jets to fight invading Russians. The deal, according to reports, could involve Poland handing over its existing MIG-29s, a Soviet/Russian-made jet fighter Ukrainian pilots are familiar with, and the US would then provide its F-16 fighters to Poland as replacements. US officials, including Blinken, had downplayed the possibility of any NATO country supplying besieged Ukraine since the beginning of this week. But speaking in Moldova on Sunday, Blinken confirmed it was under active discussion…
“Russia has a massive air force that if fully mobilized could decimate Ukraine. The United States had resisted a deal, along with some key NATO members, concerned that Russia would interpret it as NATO — Poland is a member — actively joining the Ukraine war, and spark a much wider conflict.
“But supporters of furnishing Ukraine with more aircraft from a NATO country argue that the alliance, and the US especially, have already been giving Kyiv’s army tons of lethal weaponry and munitions every day since the war began…. Any deal would require White House approval and support in the US Congress, and likely NATO support as well. Congress would likely go along…”
Breitbart added on March 6:
“Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday on CBS’s ‘Face The Nation’ that the United States has given the ‘green light’ to NATO countries who have wanted to provide fighter jets to Ukraine.”
But Blinken’s assessment was overly optimistic. Note the next articles.
Axios wrote on March 8:
“The Polish government announced Tuesday it was prepared to deploy its entire fleet of used MiG-29 fighter jets to a U.S. airbase in Germany, giving the U.S. the option to then transfer the Soviet-era aircraft to Ukraine’s military… Under one option being considered by the Biden administration, the U.S. would backfill Poland’s MiG-29 fleet with American-made F-16 fighter jets… Poland also called on other eastern-flank NATO allies in possession of MiGs — Bulgaria and Slovakia — to take similar steps… With Tuesday’s announcement, Poland seems to be shifting responsibility for making this deal happen – and for weathering the repercussions from Russia – onto the U.S.”
The USA responded that it was blind-sided by Poland’s announcement and that it rejected the proposal.
Deutsche Welle wrote on March 9:
“Poland’s prime minister on Wednesday said his country was prepared to make planes available to Ukraine, but that it would only do so through the NATO alliance… ‘We did not agree to supply planes by ourselves because it must be the decision of the whole of NATO,’ he said during a press conference on Polish television. ‘The USA does not want these planes to come to Ukraine from American bases,’ the adviser, Jakub Kumoch, told public broadcaster TVP Info. ‘Poland is ready to act, but only within the framework of the alliance, within the framework of NATO.’”
And NATO is opposed to such a move…
The Guardian wrote on March 9:
“The US and Europe have worked hard to keep their differences over sanctions and oil embargos to a public minimum, and tried to accommodate each other’s national interests. So it was striking on Tuesday when first the Pentagon described a Polish offer to send planes to the US airbase in Ramstein as ‘untenable’, and then the deputy US secretary of state said the US had not been consulted about the plan… The upshot after this mini-debacle is Russia retains air superiority. Ukrainian pilots who were being trained in Poland to fly the planes are now grounded with no machines with which to defend their country. An opportunity has been squandered… Unfortunately, they are also the anti-aircraft defence that Ukraine lacks. Nato, as its constitution requires, looks after its own….
“Unfortunately for Harris, [her] planned trip [to Poland and Rumania] suddenly became a lot more tricky in the last three days… Now she’ll be landing later today in the middle of a massive diplomatic mess… And she is charged with dealing with aspects of the US-Mexico border… border policies are a horrible mess…”
On her last trip to Europe, Harris failed. Is she going to do better this time?
Deutsche Welle wrote on March 4:
“Global leaders have reacted with dismay after fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces caused a fire at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The incident sparked fears of a potential nuclear disaster….
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Europe to ‘wake up’ as he reminded continental leaders of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, considered the worst of its kind both in cost and casualties. ‘I am addressing all Ukrainians, all Europeans and everyone who knows the word Chernobyl,’ Zelenskyy said in the wake of the fire. ‘Tens of thousands had to be evacuated and Russia wants to repeat that, and is already repeating it, but six times bigger.’
“The Chernobyl nuclear site was captured by Russian forces… Zelenskyy said Ukraine has 15 nuclear reactors and ‘if there is an explosion it is the end for everyone. Do not let Europe die in the nuclear catastrophe.’”
Allegedly, the radiation level at the power plant is normal, but one wonders: What would NATO do if Russia were to destroy a nuclear power plant, causing a nuclear disaster?
Daily Mail wrote on March 6:
“Russian forces are firing rockets at a physics institute in the city of Kharkiv that contains nuclear material and a reactor which could lead to a ‘large-scale ecological disaster’ if hit… The science institute houses the Neutron Source nuclear research facility and contains 37 nuclear fuel cells in its core.”
It was also pointed out that “Russian soldiers are reportedly using imprecise Grad launchers in the assault,” and that “the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology was responsible for the first nuclear bomb developed by the Soviet Union.”
The Sun wrote on March 9:
“EUROPE could be hit by a devastating radiation leak from the Chernobyl nuclear site after Russian troops cut off the electricity, Ukraine has warned. The plant, which was stormed by Russian forces last month, has no power supply after troops cut lines connecting it to the national grid on Wednesday… Emergency diesel generators are supplying back-up power to cool spent fuel rods in a waste store, but they will last only 48 hours, officials said.
“Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warned: ‘After that, cooling systems of the storage facility for spent nuclear fuel will stop, making radiation leaks imminent.’… there are about 20,000 spent fuel assemblies which cannot be kept cool amid the power outage.
“Without electricity, experts fear the ventilation systems at the plant will also stop working – exposing staff to dangerous doses of radiation….
“It also emerged the Russians had disabled safety warnings and cut off data transmissions. Consequently authorities do not know what the current radiation levels at the site…”
“Experts” stated that there is no reason to fear radiation. BUT can they be trusted?
Greenwich Time wrote on March 4:
“Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., was sharply criticized by fellow lawmakers on both sides of the aisle Thursday after saying that the ‘only way’ to end the crisis in Ukraine is for Russians to assassinate President Vladimir Putin. ‘Is there a Brutus in Russia? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military?’ Graham tweeted, referencing the Roman politician who participated in the assassination of Julius Caesar and the German military officer who attempted to kill Adolf Hitler…
“Graham also called for Russians to assassinate Putin during a Thursday appearance on ‘Hannity’ on Fox News. Moreover, he introduced legislation this week calling for Putin to be investigated for war crimes. On Wednesday, Sean Hannity suggested on his radio show that the United States carry out an assassination of Putin, saying, ‘You cut the head of the snake off, and you kill the snake.’”
Breitbart added on March 4:
“Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) on Friday expressed support for Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) call to see Russian President Vladimir Putin assassinated following Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, though the NeverTrump lawmaker did pour cold water on the idea that the United States should be the country that kills Putin… ‘I hope in some of these sanctions, and the sanctions against the oligarchs, is that the population does turn on him…. who say “there’s a lot of pain with these sanctions, we have maybe upwards of 9,000 Russian soldiers already dead. We’ve had enough.”
“‘Even though I’ve said we need a no-fly zone over Ukraine, I can understand that it comes with real risk. I just fear, ultimately, we’re going to be in a position to have to do it anyway,’ Kinzinger said.”
The Sun wrote on March 5:
“ROGUE Russian generals should be secretly handed whatever it takes to rid the world of Vladimir Putin, security experts said last night. They warned a failure to assassinate their ‘demented’ president now would tighten his grip on power for at least another decade… Calls have been growing in recent days for senior Russian spooks and generals to rise up against Putin. And yesterday reports claimed many were losing faith in their leader — as more evidence emerged of shocking war crimes during the barbaric invasion…
“Meanwhile it has emerged that hero president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has survived three assassination attempts — after Russian anti-war FSB officers tipped off Ukrainian security services…
“This week ex-Kremlin insider Sergei Pugachev claimed former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev was helping lead a plot against Putin…
“Last night historian Professor Anthony Glees, an expert on security and intelligence, said Western spooks should now ruthlessly target Putin’s circle… ‘Those around Putin are killers — they are like SS officers of old. But there will be serious commanders and generals who have doubts…’
“Former Labour Foreign Secretary Lord Owen said yesterday that the Russian military was ‘the only force that could topple him.’ But he added: ‘I wouldn’t give great hopes for that… [His] face has changed, and with that face change appears to have come a very substantial change of behaviour. He is contemptuous of everyone. Arrogant. Ruthless.’”
It has been speculated that the huge Russian convoy which is on its way to Ukraine’s capital, has been stopped through sabotage by Russian soldiers. The Sun wrote on March 5: “Kyiv is believed to remain the prime objective for the Russians. And a massive convoy of armoured vehicles has been lurking nearby apparently preparing for a protracted siege. However, mystery surrounds the so-called ‘Convoy of Death’ as it hasn’t made any significant progress for days. Russian forces are believed to be being increasingly demoralized…”
As if America had not assassinated or at least tried to assassinate unwelcome leaders in other countries before! History of Nazi Germany under Hitler is repeating itself right now in Nazi Russia under the new Hitler—Putin.
Axios wrote on March 5:
“New efforts by the Kremlin to bully the press and silence dissent are forcing independent media and social networks out of the country… Russians are losing access to independent reporting about the war, while the West loses insight into an already isolated leader…
“Bloomberg and the BBC said they are suspending operations in Russia, while CNN, CBS and ABC ceased broadcasting in the country after lawmakers approved new legislation Friday that threatens to imprison journalists and individuals for up to 15 years if they publish what Moscow deems to be ‘fake’ information about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine… German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, and Meduza, an independent Russian publication based in Latvia, were… blocked… Russia also blocked Facebook entirely Friday, after partially restricting the social network last week…
“Putin’s propaganda push has intensified as the protests erupt at home. The Kremlin is relying on state media to sell the war as a success domestically…”
Putin’s strategy is SO similar to that of Goebbel’s, Hitler’s propaganda minister, that the parallels are striking… and a helpless world complains…
The New York Post wrote on March 5:
“Russian forces defied a brokered ceasefire and continued shelling the strategic Ukrainian port city of Mariupol as hundreds of thousands of women, children and elderly were attempting to flee Saturday, the local government said.
“Despite an agreement that would allow the Red Cross to guarantee a ceasefire, the escape from the city was thrown into chaos. Mariupol authorities announced they stopped the mass evacuation of an expected 215,000 people, about three hours after the cease fire was supposed to start because of the continued bombardment. The pummeled city was left without power, heat or water services after multiple days of rocket fire and food supplies were running low.”
The Sun added on March 5:
“Mariupol has been one of the most brutalised cities of war as the Russians have blockaded it and cut off food, water, heating and transport in the depths of winter. It has been compared to the Nazi blockade of Leningrad in World War 2.”
This was so predictable. Subsequent “ceasefire” agreements failed likewise. Putin is a pathological liar. He follows the desires of his father, the Devil. One cannot trust anything Putin says. But there may be even more to Putin’s behavior.
d-online wrote on March 5:
“[Some] argue that Putin has mental problems. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly told then-US President Obama in 2014 that she was ‘confused’ by Putin… as one far removed from any reality.
“That same year, neuroscientist Ian Robertson published an essay in Psychology Today entitled, ‘The Danger Lurking Inside Vladimir Putin’s Brain.’ In it, the psychologist… writes: ‘There is little doubt that his brain has changed so much, both neurologically and physically, that he firmly and earnestly believes that without him, Russia will experience its downfall.’ Long periods of absolute power would have made him highly self-absorbed, narcissistic, and blind to risk.
Such warnings are being raised again today: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Putin could be an ‘irrational actor’. And: ‘At the moment we have to accept that Vladimir Putin may be thinking without any logic and not seeing the imminent disaster.’…
“The US Senate Intelligence Committee also held a meeting on the subject. Exactly what was discussed is not known; the meetings are held in strict secrecy. ‘I wish I could say more about that,’ Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio wrote on Twitter. But he can say that for many there is obviously something wrong with Putin and that clear change could be seen in the Russian President.
“For Condoleezza Rice, too, the man is now ‘another Putin,’ she told Fox News. Rice was first a national security adviser under George W. Bush, then US Secretary of State – and was often present at meetings with Putin. He was always calculating and cold. On the other hand, he now appears ‘capricious’ to her. According to NBC, US intelligence services also have reliable evidence that Putin is increasingly frustrated and is increasingly venting this anger on confidants. This is unusual, after all, as the former KGB officer usually had his emotions under control.”
What is normally not being considered, but should be, is that Putin’s change may be caused by demonic possession, as was the case with Hitler.
The Associated Press wrote on March 6:
“The Russian tanks and missiles besieging Ukraine also are threatening the food supply and livelihoods of people in Europe, Africa and Asia who rely on the vast, fertile farmlands of the Black Sea region — known as the ‘breadbasket of the world.’
“Ukrainian farmers have been forced to neglect their fields as millions flee, fight or try to stay alive. Ports are shut down that send wheat and other food staples worldwide to be made into bread, noodles and animal feed. And there are worries Russia, another agricultural powerhouse, could have its grain exports upended by Western sanctions.
“… While there have not yet been global disruptions to wheat supplies, prices have surged 55% since a week before the invasion amid concerns about what could happen next. If the war is prolonged, countries that rely on affordable wheat exports from Ukraine could face shortages starting in July… That could create food insecurity and throw more people into poverty in places like Egypt and Lebanon, where diets are dominated by government-subsidized bread…
“Russia and Ukraine combine for nearly a third of the world’s wheat and barley exports. Ukraine also is a major supplier of corn and the global leader in sunflower oil, used in food processing. The war could reduce food supplies just when prices are at their highest levels since 2011. A prolonged conflict would have a big impact some 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) away in Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer. Millions rely on subsidized bread made from Ukrainian grains to survive, with about a third of people living in poverty…
“War-ravaged Syria recently announced it would cut spending and ration staples. In nearby Lebanon, where a massive explosion at the Beirut port in 2020 destroyed the country’s main grain silos, authorities are scrambling to make up for a predicted wheat shortage, with Ukraine providing 60% of its supply…
“African countries imported agricultural products worth $4 billion from Russia in 2020, and about 90% was wheat…
“Ukraine supplies the EU with just under 60% of its corn and nearly half of a key component in the grains needed to feed livestock. Russia, which provides the EU with 40% of its natural gas needs, is similarly a major supplier of fertilizer, wheat and other staples.”
Christ said that religious deception, wars and rumors of wars, famines and pestilences, as well as earthquakes, signify the “beginning of sorrows.”
Israel Today wrote on March 8:
“China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday called Russia his country’s ‘most important strategic partner’ as Beijing continues to refuse to condemn the invasion of Ukraine despite growing pressure from the US and European Union to use its influence to rein in Moscow. The Chinese foreign minister said that ties with Moscow constitute ‘one of the most crucial bilateral relationships in the world.’ … Clearly, well before the invasion, China was aware of what Russia was planning, as the largest two communist countries in the world have been plotting for decades to form an alliance to counter a now-weakened and bewildered US and Europe in order to become the new global superpower… Iran [is] closely aligned with Russia and China and [is] quickly developing nuclear weapons.
“For many years, China and Russia have increased their alignment against liberal Western foreign policy, and they have chosen their moment to make it clear that this new world order is a fait accompli. Their massive armies have been carrying out joint exercises shoring up a dominant military alliance… And for Israel, the US, once a faithful bulwark to these northern threats, now feels more like a distant ally, not close enough geographically to be of much concern to the Russian Bear and Chinese Dragon fuming in the North, nor politically or militarily prepared for any serious fight for anything anywhere….”
Express added on March 8:
“Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are looking to increase their gas trade exponentially with the development of three gas pipelines that will flow from Russia to China.”
The Kings of the East, under Russian and Chinese leadership, are clearly emerging, while unreliable America is retreating more and more from the world scene.
The Associated Press reported on March 6:
“Over the past five years, hundreds of Jehovah’s Witnesses have been subjected to raids, arrests and prosecution in Russia. Many others have fled… About 5,000 Witnesses in Ukraine have left, seeking protection in other countries… For Witnesses in Russia–… there are about 170,000 of them — there’s been anxiety since the country’s Supreme Court declared the Christian denomination an extremist group in 2017. Hundreds have been arrested and imprisoned. Their homes and places of worship, known as Kingdom Halls, have been raided, and the national headquarters seized. The Witnesses’ modern, Russian-language translation of the Bible has been banned along with its globally circulated magazines, Awake and Watchtower…
“Although Witnesses are Christians, they are guided by distinctive beliefs and practices, including the refusal of blood transfusions, abstinence from voting, conscientious objection to military service, and avoidance of participation in national ceremonies and holidays… Aside from Russia, Witnesses experience persecution in several former Soviet republics, including Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan…
“In Eritrea, where military conscription is mandatory, there are several Witnesses in prison. In South Korea, where most young men must perform military service, Witnesses were routinely imprisoned for refusing until a 2018 court decision affirmed their rights to conscientious objection…”
Rebel News wrote on March 5:
“If Pastor Artur Pawlowski is indeed the most persecuted person in Canada under the COVID-19 restriction regime we have been living through these past two years, his brother Dawid Pawlowski is very likely the runner up in this sad, anti-democratic pageant of political theatre. Neither Dawid nor Artur ever imagined that feeding the homeless, opening their church and praying with protesters at freedom rallies and with truckers at the Coutts blockade would land them behind bars, and at any other time in Canadian history it likely wouldn’t have. But in the world of pandemic politics, people daring to speak out or standing by their Charter rights is evidently punishable by jailing, especially if you are a Christian.
“You likely know that Pastor Artur has been in jail for weeks now and that he was denied bail for the above mentioned alleged ‘crimes’. Artur has faced five arrests and three incarceration in the past two years, and Dawid has been right by his side throughout all of this. He was even thrown in jail with Artur during his first two stints in jail… On March 2, Dawid was pulled over at a check stop and then arrested based on a breach of probation resulting from sanctions assigned by Justice Adam Germain.
“You may recall Justice Germain’s bizarre ruling against both Artur and Dawid, which prohibited them from travelling and implemented Soviet-style compelled speech mandates on the brothers insisting that they read a court prepared statement on COVID-19 after making any public commentary on matters critical of the government’s pandemic response. Many of those sanctions were stayed pending an appeal, which Sarah Miller, the Pawlowskis’ legal counsel, is working tirelessly on to ensure the troubling ruling is overturned altogether. We do have some good news to report, though. While Artur unfortunately remains behind bars, thanks to the efforts of Sarah Miller and JSS Barristers, Dawid has already been released and is at home resting with his family…”
Dictator Trudeau and his agents are like leopards which do not change their spots…
Deutsche Welle wrote on March 9:
“Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he would recommend a national emergency be declared after recent floods across large parts of the east coast took 22 lives… The declaration was made possible by a new law passed in late 2020 following… devastating Australian bushfires… Some of the flooded communities in the current emergency were battling wildfires two years ago…
“While touring the worst-hit areas of New South Wales, Morrison said on Wednesday, ‘Australia is becoming a harder country to live in because of these natural disasters.’ Floodwaters reached their peak in Queensland’s capital, Brisbane, Australia’s third-most populous city, on February 28 after it was inundated by 80% of its usual annual rainfall in the previous three days. More than 20,000 homes and businesses had been flooded in southeast Queensland alone and 13 people died. Parts of New South Wales’ capital, Sydney, Australia’s most populous city, were flooded after receiving almost 75% of its average annual rainfall since January 1, enduring the wettest start to a year ever recorded. Some communities witnessed the highest floods ever recorded in their locations. Morrison called the flooding ‘a major catastrophe … of national proportions.’
“… many flood victims are angry that rescue by authorities didn’t come earlier and relief efforts were not enough… Although rainfall has now calmed, 40,000 people around New South Wales had been ordered to evacuate their homes, including dozens in Sydney… Morrison, who is lagging in polls ahead of an election before May, kept media away from his meetings with flood victims, which he said was to protect their privacy….”
The New York Post wrote on March 4:
“As the civilian death toll mounts in Ukraine and the world prepares for unspeakable crimes against humanity yet to come, the Biden administration said Friday it’s close to announcing a Russian-brokered deal with Iran that will flood the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism with billions of dollars and leave Tehran on the nuclear weapons threshold…
“The new deal takes Moscow’s side — flouting the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, lifting sanctions and legitimizing Iran’s nuclear program without first demanding a full accounting of previous and current violations… The deal will directly subsidize the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations — a win for another Russian client state, Syria, as well…”
Putin reportedly demanded from Iran to sign trade agreements with Russia in exchange for the Iran nuclear deal. While the focus is on Russia and Ukraine, Iran is working towards becoming a nuclear power, with the help of Putin and, indirectly, Biden. At the same time, North Korea is conducting missile tests again, and China is preparing for its invasion of Taiwan.
Breitbart wrote on March 9:
“Last month, Breitbart News fact-checked the Biden administration’s misleading claim that Florida legislators were considering a ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill that was, the White House said, ‘designed to attack LGBTQI+ kids.’ The facts: [T]he legislation that is causing such a stir among Democrats and journalists does not mention ‘gay’ or any specific sexuality… The bill… reads, ‘Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.’
“There is nothing in the bill about ‘attack[ing] LGBTQI+’ children, nor does the bill, which passed the legislature Tuesday, say anything hateful about any sexual orientation. Yet White House press secretary Jen Psaki repeated the false claim that ‘Florida passed hateful legislation targeting vulnerable students.’
“Neither Psaki nor the White House has even produced any evidence that there are self-identified ‘LGBTQI+’ students among the kindergarteners and first through third grade pupils who are protected by, not attacked by, the Florida legislation.”
Rather, radical LGBTQI+ adherents want to indoctrinate very young children with sexual concepts which are being described as perfectly normal and acceptable.
Newsmax wrote on March 5:
“Former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr ‘wouldn’t know voter fraud if it was staring him in the face,’ former President Donald Trump said Friday in a statement released by his Save America PAC. Barr, in an interview with NBC News that aired earlier Friday, said Trump became ‘very angry’ when Barr told him that there was no evidence the 2020 election was rigged. ‘I told him that all this stuff was b…about election fraud,’ Barr said. ‘It was wrong to be shoveling it out the way his team was. And he started asking me about different theories and … I was able to tell him that “this is wrong because of this.” Trump ‘was obviously getting very angry about this, so I said, “Look, I understand you’re upset with me and I’m perfectly happy to tender my resignation,” and then … he slapped the desk and he said, “Accepted. Accepted … Go home. Don’t go back to your office. Go home. You’re done.”’…
“Trump in his statement slammed Barr as ‘weak, ineffective, and totally scared of being impeached, which the Democrats were constantly threatening to do.’ ‘They “broke’ him,” Trump added. ‘He should have acted much faster on the Mueller Report, instead of allowing the fake Russia, Russia, Russia, Hoax to linger for so long, but it was the Election Fraud and Irregularities that he refused to act on because he wanted to save his own hide — and he did. ‘He never got impeached, contempt charges never went forward, and the Democrats were very happy with him — but I wasn’t. The Unselect Committee of Political Hacks continues to spin its wheels in trying to fabricate a narrative that doesn’t exist. The only thing they refuse to look into is the massive Election Fraud that took place in the 2020 Presidential Election.’”
Barr reportedly also told the GOP to move on and leave Trump behind.
The Hill reported on March 4:
“Former Vice President Mike Pence on Friday will rebuke those in the Republican Party who have praised Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent weeks, including most prominently former President Trump. ‘There is no room in this party for apologists for Putin. There is only room for champions of freedom,’ Pence will tell a gathering of Republican National Committee (RNC) donors, according to excerpts shared with The Hill. The comments from Pence are a tacit criticism of Trump and others who have complimented Putin’s intelligence and strategy as he directed Russia to invade Ukraine without provocation.
“Trump last week said on a radio show that Putin’s decision to unilaterally declare portions of eastern Ukraine as independent republics was ‘pretty savvy’ and ‘genius.’… Trump shifted his tone earlier this week, calling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ‘a holocaust.’ The Trump administration during its four years imposed harsh sanctions on Russia, but Trump himself frequently faced criticism for his praise of Putin personally and his rejection of the intelligence community’s determination that Moscow interfered in the 2016 presidential election.”
It does not appear that Barr and Pence will win their fight against Trump, as far as the GOP and conservative voters are concerned.
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.
On March 12, 2022, Eric Rank will present the sermonette, title, “I Don’t Feel Like It” and Dave Harris will present the sermon, titled, “When Trouble Comes!”
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.
by Norbert Link
Unspeakable images of injuries and death on a daily basis! A people being terrorized by an unscrupulous tyrant! Women with their children seeking shelter from constant bombardment or fleeing their homes, while their husbands and sons and even daughters are fighting the ruthless enemy.
I am speaking of course about Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine while the world is unwilling to provide the military assistance which would be needed to defeat Russia’s war machine and to end the suffering of innocent civilians in a sovereign country.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked the West time and again to stop their “appeasement” of Russia. It has been pointed out that the recent conference in Munich had clear echoes of the 1938 summit in Munich in which leaders agreed to a policy of appeasement against Adolf Hitler in an effort to prevent an imminent war.
Zelenskyy expressed his frustration with NATO for refusing the establishment of a no-fly zone over Ukraine and for refusing to provide fighter jets to defend against Russia’s air force bombing Ukrainian cities (even though it was announced on March 6 that the United States was “working actively” on a deal with Poland to supply Ukraine with jets to fight invading Russians). NATO has taken the position that granting such help would mean declaring war on Russia—a perception with which Putin wholeheartedly agrees. In fact, Putin even said that the West’s issuance of sanctions was already akin to a declaration of war.
Even though Ukraine expressed their appreciation for whatever assistance they are receiving from the West, they have been saying that the help is not enough. This may ultimately lead to a rejection of NATO, and a movement toward Russia, if conditions there were to change. In World War 2, Ukraine was at first aligned with Germany against Russia, but then switched sides due to their disappointment with Hitler’s actions. It is prophesied that ultimately, a collaboration of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus will form which will be in opposition to the EU.
The current situation has set in motion or at least accelerated prophetic developments. For one, a confederation of the “kings of the East” is being established. Especially China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Iran have refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the unprovoked war which Putin started.
In addition, Germany and the rest of Europe have “unified” as never before and have (re-)discovered their “need” to establish a mighty and powerful army. The Week wrote on March 5 that “Putin has inadvertently accomplished what often seemed impossible — bringing the continent together on foreign policy and thereby laying a solid foundation for a true United States of Europe… the EU will keep evolving toward becoming a fully autonomous super-state…”
The Washington Post stated on March 3 that German chancellor Olaf Scholz “announced a historic ramp up in military spending to meet the Russian threat… a recent poll showed 78 percent of the Germans backed Scholz’s plan… it’s also an acknowledgment of the unpredictability of U.S. politics.” German Finance minister Christian Lindner stated that the Bundeswehr is to become the strongest army in Europe.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is causing Europe to establish a prophesied powerful European army, under German leadership, to be able to “defend” against Russian aggression, while realizing the unreliability of the USA, which refuses to send soldiers to Ukraine, even though they had promised Ukraine in the past security protection.
Another interesting development in the light of biblical prophecies may not be that obvious at first sight, but I feel that it clearly exists. I am speaking about obvious similarities between Hitler and Putin.
The Washington Post wrote on February 24: “… some observers see [in Putin’s invasion of Ukraine] brutal similarities to Hitler’s seizure of Czechoslovakia just before World War II… Hitler wanted to take over all of Europe… Putin wants to restore Czarist Russia, the Russian empire…. [Hitler] was plotting the seizure of part of Czechoslovakia, claiming that ethnic Germans in the Sudeten regions bordering eastern Germany were being mistreated.” That is exactly what Putin is saying about Russians living in Ukraine. Both accusations were and are totally without merit.
The Sun wrote on February 25 that “Putin is the new Hitler… And like Hitler, he spews vicious apocalyptic threats to scare off any resistance…If the US lets Putin use his nuke threats to scare them off, Russia will continue its nation-seizing rampage like the Nazis did in 1938/9.” Thomson/Reuters wrote on February 25 that “Zelenskyy said on Friday… the bombing of Kyiv was reminiscent of Nazi Germany’s attacks during World War Two…”
Some have proposed to assassinate Putin, drawing another parallel between Putin and Hitler. Greenwich Time wrote on March 4 that Sen. Lindsey Graham said “that the ‘only way’ to end the crisis in Ukraine is for Russians to assassinate President Vladimir Putin,” adding, “‘Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military?’… referencing… the German military officer who attempted to kill Adolf Hitler…”
That attempt failed, as many other attempts to kill Hitler failed as well. At least some of the attempts should not have failed, but “circumstances” prevented their success. A bomb smuggled in Hitler’s plane did not go off; a bomb deposited at Hitler’s podium went off too late because Hitler had unexpectedly cut short his speech. Even Stauffenberg’s attempt would in all likelihood have succeeded if the party had assembled in a bunker, as originally planned, but Hitler changed the location shortly before Stauffenberg’s arrival, and the briefcase with the bomb which Stauffenberg had placed next to Hitler was moved to a more distant place before it went off. As a consequence, Hitler was only slightly injured. As he did often, he thanked “fate” (“Vorsehung”) for his protection.
If the history of Nazi Germany under Hitler was repeating itself right now in Nazi Russia under the new Hitler—Putin—then any assassination attempt on Putin would fail at this point.
As we explained in our literature, Hitler was possessed by a demon, perhaps even Satan himself. And so, Satan gave him protection until he had carried out his evil devices, fulfilling thereby, together with Mussolini, the short-lived ninth revival of the ancient Roman Empire. The evidence suggests that Putin is also possessed, perhaps by the same demon who possessed Hitler. I feel that the similarities between Hitler and Putin are too remarkable than being mere coincidence.
Putin has been lying from the outset about his invasion of Ukraine, and he keeps on lying now. He promised and agreed to a cease-fire arrangement, only to break it immediately. He follows the desires of his father, Satan the Devil. The same was true for Hitler. Putin is also determined to destroy the free press and only allow the propaganda of the state press, selling his war as a success domestically. Putin’s strategy is very similar to that of Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda minister. When Germany had been defeated in Stalingrad and German troops fled from the Russians, Goebbel’s propaganda machine announced Germany’s “victorious retreat” (“siegreicher Rueckzug”).
All of this points at demonic possession, because the demon having possessed Hitler and who is now possessing Putin follows the same modus operandi. But the most compelling conclusion that Putin is indeed demonically possessed is, in my view, his recent change in behavior. d-online wrote on March 5:
“[Some] argue that Putin has mental problems… Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio wrote… that for many there is obviously something wrong with Putin and that clear change could be seen in the Russian President. For Condoleezza Rice, too, the man is now ‘another Putin’… Rice was first a national security adviser under George W. Bush, then US Secretary of State – and was often present at meetings with Putin.”
Hitler has been described as mentally sick, which explanation has been used for his mood swings. But in reality, he was possessed. What is normally not being considered, but should be, is that Putin’s change is also caused by demonic possession. And as Hitler had to fulfill his task, as directed by Satan, so will Putin. Once that is done, Satan will concentrate on the beast in Europe, a coming charismatic political and military leader of German or Austrian descent, and Satan will possess him. He will give him his power and great authority, setting in motion the Great Tribulation. And the beast will conduct himself very similarly to Hitler’s and Putin’s activities, because he will be possessed by the same force which possessed Hitler and which is now possessing Putin.
We observe with horror Putin’s terrible atrocities, as the world was stunned and appalled by Hitler’s evil deeds. History is repeating itself, but next time, it will be so much worse. When the beast appears in a short while, the whole world will follow him. Satan’s deception will have reached a climax of unparalleled proportions. Only very few will be able to see through Satan’s evil devices and his diabolical plan for mankind’s annihilation. You should be one of those very few.
by Norbert Link
We begin with reports on the unification of Europe and Europe’s military buildup; speak on Biden’s decision to stop the import of Russian oil and natural gas, while much of Europe will not follow suit; address Germany’s continuing dependence on Russian oil; Germany’s embarrassing “help” for Ukraine; and Zelenskyy’s frustration with NATO over the ongoing debate regarding fighter jets and a no-fly zone and his willingness to compromise with Russia, while a debacle between the USA and Poland was revealed.
We address Russia’s attack on a nuclear power plant; the recommendation to assassinate Putin; the broken “cease-fire”; Putin’s fight against the free press; and Putin’s mental disability which might have spiritual causes. In this context, please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Putin—the Devil’s Tool.”
We publish a frightening article, raising the possibility of worldwide famine due to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
We speak on the “important partnership” between Russia and China; persecution of Christians in Russia and Canada; the devastating floods in Australia, and we conclude with the dangerous prospect of a new Iran deal; the White House’s misrepresentations regarding a bill in Florida; and an ongoing fight between Barr, Pence and Trump.
Throughout this section, we have underlined pertinent statements in the quoted articles, for the convenience and quick overview of the reader.
The Week wrote on March 5:
“Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it was common for analysts in the West to presume a war on Europe’s eastern edge would provoke rancorous division over how to respond within the European Union and NATO… In fact, the diametric opposite has occurred. Europe has been united and resolute…
“Russian President Vladimir Putin has inadvertently accomplished what often seemed impossible — bringing the continent together on foreign policy and thereby laying a solid foundation for a true United States of Europe. The implications for the EU and the U.S. alike will be profound…
“Just as Napoleon’s conquering army unintentionally inspired national self-consciousness and aspirations among formerly disparate European peoples, so Putin’s invasion has provoked unity in the continent as a whole, as members of the EU have felt deeply threatened by a common adversary…
“The European Union has never thought and acted more like a coherent political entity than it’s doing right now… As it does, the EU will keep evolving toward becoming a fully autonomous super-state — a liberal multinational empire that takes increasing responsibility for its own defense….”
While the unsuspecting and ignorant world approves of this development, the consequences will be disastrous.
The Washington Post wrote on March 3:
“In Germany, a nation that shrank from confrontation with Moscow after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the evidence is a historic military buildup announced in response to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine…
“When Moscow annexed Crimea and Russian-backed forces seized parts of eastern Ukraine in 2014, the German titans of industry demurred, urging then-Chancellor Angela Merkel to tread lightly… When Merkel sought to impose sanctions on Russia following its initial aggression in Ukraine in 2014, polls showed a majority of Germans against them.
“Fast forward to now…Olaf Scholz, once a word-parsing waffler on Moscow, announced a historic ramp up in military spending to meet the Russian threat… a recent poll showed 78 percent of the Germans backed Scholz’s plan…
“In France…. a new poll showed 84 percent of respondents believe you can’t ‘negotiate’ with Putin and 7 out of 10 backed arms deliveries to Ukraine. Surprisingly, a majority — 53 percent — even backed a step ruled out by leaders in Washington and the capitals of Europe: the intervention of NATO’s armed forces in Ukraine… Macron is seizing the moment to push his vision for a European army… ‘We cannot let others defend ourselves; whether on land, at sea, under the sea, in the air, in space or in cyberspace,’ Macron said in a televised speech Wednesday night. ‘Our European defense must take a new step.’
“The historic push for stronger, collective defense in Europe is the culmination of an awakening to the Russian threat after years of sleepwalking through Russian aggression. But it’s also an acknowledgment of the unpredictability of U.S. politics. Polls show public support for President Biden and former president Donald Trump… as roughly similar…
“A litany of European gas and oil companies — BP, Shell and Equinor — are pulling the plug on their Russian investments, hitting the Kremlin where it hurts: its energy sector… the Russian threat has crystallized for the British people. In a September poll, 34 percent of Britons considered Russia a ‘hostile threat.’ Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, that figure almost doubled, to 64 percent.”
Will the Russian invasion of Ukraine cause Europe to establish a powerful European army to be able to “defend” against Russian aggression? German Finance minister Christian Lindner (FDP) stated that the Bundeswehr is to become the strongest army in Europe.
Deutsche Welle wrote on March 8:
“The US will stop importing oil and natural gas from Russia, US President Joe Biden has said…. ‘ We will not be part of subsidizing Putin’s war,’ Biden said, describing energy imports as ‘the main artery of Russia’s economy.’ The US president also warned oil companies and their partners against ‘excessive price increases’ as the war and fears of more bans drive up energy prices on the global market…
“Biden said… in Europe… many of them might not join the boycott… German Chancellor Olaf Scholz [said] on Monday [oil and gas imports from Russia] were ‘essential’ to daily life in Europe. On Tuesday, the European Commission published plans to cut EU dependency on Russian gas by two-thirds this year and end its reliance on Russian supplies of the fuel ‘well before 2030.’ Just ahead of Biden’s announcement, the UK said they would phase out Russian oil imports by the end of 2022…
“Biden acknowledged that the latest ban would cause fuel prices to rise even more…”
Newsmax added on March 8:
“Former President Donald Trump criticized Europe on Tuesday for not joining the United States in boycotting Russian oil and gas. ‘… As usual the United States will be left out there alone, being taken advantage of by Europe, as we defend them, while we read in the Fake News how everyone has come together under [President Joe] Biden to fight Russia.’”
Fox News wrote on March 8:
“The Biden administration has repeatedly touted the fact that oil production in Biden’s first year in office was higher than in Trump’s first year in office. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during Monday’s briefing that ‘the U.S. produced more oil this past year than in President Trump’s first year.’ Biden sounded a similar note Tuesday during his remarks announcing a ban on Russian energy imports. ‘Even amid the pandemic, companies in the United States pumped more oil during my first year in office than they did during my predecessor’s first year,’ Biden said.
“But the White House’s framing omits a key fact: while domestic oil production in 2021 was higher than it was in 2017, it was lower than it was in 2018, 2019 and 2020… The White House spin comes amid increasing Democratic anxiety about the political impacts of record-setting gas prices ahead of the midterm elections…”
Fox News reported on March 8:
“Russia threatened to close its main gas line to Germany, late Monday, if Western nations ban Russian oil imports… Alexander Novak, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, warned that the ‘rejection of Russian oil would lead to catastrophic consequences for the global market,’ suggesting the price per barrel could double to $300… Given the European Union gets 40% of its gas and 30% of its oil from Russia, Novak asserted it would be ‘impossible to quickly find a replacement for Russian oil on the European market.’”
Bloomberg wrote on March 4:
“For years, the U.S. warned Germany of building up a dangerous energy dependence on Russia, the source of more than half of its fossil fuel imports. Now that the war in Ukraine has shocked Berlin into the same conclusion, the government is finding that changing course might be too late.
“… Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government has said the country’s gas needs are covered until next winter. But Europe’s gas storage facilities are now less than a third full, well below the average for this time of the year. To compensate for lost Russian gas, Germany would need deliveries from the world’s entire 600-vessel fleet of liquefied natural gas tankers…
“For now, Moscow has given no indication that it may cut off supplies, while Germany opposes sanctions or political pressure that would prompt a full energy embargo. But already, Berlin is in crisis mode. Highlighting the sense of urgency, the government has authorized a 1.5 billion-euro ($1.7 billion) ad-hoc payment to secure LNG [Liquefied Natural Gas]. At current prices, that’s only about a week’s worth of gas… and LNG is typically at least 10% more expensive than supplies piped from Russia…
“In the event of a supply shutdown, Uniper would likely be one of the first companies to feel the fallout. The Dusseldorf-based utility has more than half of its long-term gas contracts with Russia and faces a bleak future if those supplies get cut off. That would have a knock-on effect on consumers and factories dependent on its electricity…
“German oil and gas producer Wintershall Dea AG… wrote down 1 billion euros invested in the controversial $11 billion project [Nord Stream 2 Pipeline], which had long irked the U.S. because of the Russian connection but was nevertheless nearing completion until the government halted certification. The first Nord Stream pipeline, which bypasses Ukraine to connect Germany directly with Russian gas fields, was opened by former Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2011, calling it a ‘remarkable achievement.’
“Scholz also announced plans to fast-track construction of the country’s first LNG terminals, but that would still take years. In the short term, the government released a crisis plan, including building up coal reserves for power plants and forcing gas firms to keep minimum storage levels — nearly a third of that capacity is controlled by Russia’s Gazprom PJSC in a further sign of Germany’s dependence.
“… Insurers Euler Hermes and Allianz SE estimate that it would require 170 billion euros in investment a year for the European Union to gain independence from Russian energy…
“Russia supplies more than half of Germany’s gas, half of its coal and roughly a third of its oil… Russia shutting down deliveries isn’t a far-fetched scenario, because gas only provides the government with a quarter of the revenue compared with oil…
“A gas shortage could prompt BASF to halt some factories, dealing a blow to supplies of materials used in cars, fertilizers and medicines across Europe… which advises hundreds of companies in Germany… ‘This is the biggest energy crisis people in Europe have faced since the Second World War,’ said [Wolfgang] Hahn, owner of Energy Consulting GmbH.”
So what is Germany going to do?
Breitbart wrote on March 4:
“Berlin had planned to send Ukraine 2,700 ‘Strela’ rockets dating back to the German Communist era, as part of the weapons package Germany had prepared to help Kyiv fend off the Russian invasion, but at least 700 have been revealed to be defective, with the boxes they’re stored in being described as ‘mouldy’.
“The rockets had initially been designed for use by the National People’s Army of the Soviet-controlled German Democratic Republic (GDR), which ceased to exist in 1990… A classified military document that was leaked by Spiegel magazine… has said that: ‘Owing to the obsolescence of the rocket motor, the Strela missile is no longer safe to handle, so it can no longer be fired’. As a result of neglect, small cracks had formed on the rockets, which led to corrosion.
“The German army, known as the Bundeswehr, have not used the GDR’s weapons since 2014 citing ‘security reasons’, and since then the wooden boxes holding the missiles have rotted and become covered in mould – to the extent that soldiers are only allowed to enter the rooms storing the rockets if they wear protective clothing, German magazine Focus reports…
“Of the maximum of 2,000 rockets that are still combat-ready, it has been reported that the Bundeswehr no longer have the handpieces that are needed to fire the ordinance, with the German military hoping the Ukrainians have access to them or they may not be able to use the shoulder-fired missiles.
“Germany had initially declined to send lethal aid to Ukraine… Germany had provided 5,000 helmets to Kyiv, a move that was widely mocked by some as poor even as a token gesture…
“After much reluctance, Germany also blocked the approval process for Nord Stream 2, the 764 mile-long natural gas pipeline that would connect Russia and Germany…”
How could Berlin have been so stupid and incompetent?
Newsmax wrote on March 4:
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called NATO ‘weak’ and ‘underconfident’ on Friday for refusing the establishment of a no-fly zone over Ukraine… NATO argued establishing such a zone could escalate the conflict into a wider European war. ‘The only way to implement a no-fly zone is to send NATO fighter planes into Ukrainian airspace, and then impose that no-fly zone by shooting down Russian planes,’ NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said… ‘We understand the desperation, but we also believe that if we did that, we would end up with something that could end in a full-fledged war in Europe,’ he added.
“Zelenskyy lambasted the organization… claiming the country has been thrown into ‘nine days of darkness’ without assistance from NATO. ‘Knowing that new strikes and casualties are inevitable, NATO deliberately decided not to close the sky over Ukraine,’ Zelenskyy claimed. ‘Because of your weakness, because of your disunity, all the alliance has managed to do so far is to carry fifty tons of diesel fuel for Ukraine,’ he continued. ‘Is this the alliance you were building?’
“Zelenskyy further disputed claims that a no-fly zone would create a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia… The White House has, so far, shown the same hesitancy towards the no-fly zone idea as NATO… Press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Thursday, ‘It would require, essentially, the U.S. military shooting down Russian planes and prompting a potential direct war with Russia, the exact step that we want to avoid.’”
The Guardian added on March 4:
“Volodymyr Zelenskyy has critisized Nato for refusing to implement a no-fly zone over Ukraine, saying the decision has given ‘the green light for further bombing of Ukrainian towns and villages’. ‘All the people who die from this day forward will also die because of you, because of your weakness, because of your lack of unity,’ the Ukrainian president said in an emotional nighttime address.”
Axios also quoted Zelenskyy as saying that if Ukraine fell, “Europe will not stand… If we will fall, you will fall so please don’t be silent, do not turn the blind on eye on this.”
Germany has also rejected the idea of a no-fly zone, and so has much of Europe. Would Stoltenberg and the Western allies really act differently if Russia were to attack a NATO member state?
Die Welt wrote on March 8:
“With regard to NATO, Zelenskyy was disappointed. He said that the alliance is not ready to accept Ukraine as a member. ‘The alliance is afraid of controversial issues and a dispute with Russia.’ He indicated that he would not join. He said that Ukraine is not a country that begs for something on its knees. Since the constitution was changed in 2019, joining NATO has been the declared goal of the former Soviet republic.”
The Hindu wrote on March 8:
“In another apparent nod aimed at placating Moscow, Mr. Zelenskyy said he is open to ‘compromise’ on the status of two breakaway pro-Russian territories [in eastern Ukraine — Donetsk and Luhansk] that President Vladimir Putin recognised as independent just before unleashing the invasion on February 24. ‘I have cooled down regarding this question a long time ago after we understood that … NATO is not prepared to accept Ukraine,’ Zelenskyy said in an interview aired on Monday night (U.S. time) on ABC News…
“When ABC asked him about this Russian demand, Mr. Zelenskyy said he was open to dialogue… He said these two regions ‘have not been recognised by anyone but Russia… But we can discuss and find the compromise on how these territories will live on… What is important to me is how the people in those territories are going to live who want to be part of Ukraine, who in Ukraine will say that they want to have them in,’ Mr. Zelenskyy said…”
Fox News wrote on March 5:
“Putin said Saturday that Moscow will view any attempt by other countries to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine as active ‘participation in the armed conflict.’… ‘That very second, we will view them as participants of the military conflict, and it would not matter what members they are,’ the Russian president said… Putin pledged that the ‘realization’ of demands to do so would ‘bring catastrophic results not only to Europe, but to the whole world’ and called western sanctions against Russia ‘akin to [or almost] a declaration of war.’…
“In addition, Putin reportedly said Ukraine could potentially lose its statehood if its leaders continue to resist Russia’s military invasion.”
Putin keeps threatening the West which bows down to him in horror and fear. But if he feels that NATO has already declared war on him, what then is NATO waiting for?
Times of Israel reported on March 6:
“US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the United States was ‘working actively’ on a deal with Poland to supply Ukraine with jets to fight invading Russians. The deal, according to reports, could involve Poland handing over its existing MIG-29s, a Soviet/Russian-made jet fighter Ukrainian pilots are familiar with, and the US would then provide its F-16 fighters to Poland as replacements. US officials, including Blinken, had downplayed the possibility of any NATO country supplying besieged Ukraine since the beginning of this week. But speaking in Moldova on Sunday, Blinken confirmed it was under active discussion…
“Russia has a massive air force that if fully mobilized could decimate Ukraine. The United States had resisted a deal, along with some key NATO members, concerned that Russia would interpret it as NATO — Poland is a member — actively joining the Ukraine war, and spark a much wider conflict.
“But supporters of furnishing Ukraine with more aircraft from a NATO country argue that the alliance, and the US especially, have already been giving Kyiv’s army tons of lethal weaponry and munitions every day since the war began…. Any deal would require White House approval and support in the US Congress, and likely NATO support as well. Congress would likely go along…”
Breitbart added on March 6:
“Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday on CBS’s ‘Face The Nation’ that the United States has given the ‘green light’ to NATO countries who have wanted to provide fighter jets to Ukraine.”
But Blinken’s assessment was overly optimistic. Note the next articles.
Axios wrote on March 8:
“The Polish government announced Tuesday it was prepared to deploy its entire fleet of used MiG-29 fighter jets to a U.S. airbase in Germany, giving the U.S. the option to then transfer the Soviet-era aircraft to Ukraine’s military… Under one option being considered by the Biden administration, the U.S. would backfill Poland’s MiG-29 fleet with American-made F-16 fighter jets… Poland also called on other eastern-flank NATO allies in possession of MiGs — Bulgaria and Slovakia — to take similar steps… With Tuesday’s announcement, Poland seems to be shifting responsibility for making this deal happen – and for weathering the repercussions from Russia – onto the U.S.”
The USA responded that it was blind-sided by Poland’s announcement and that it rejected the proposal.
Deutsche Welle wrote on March 9:
“Poland’s prime minister on Wednesday said his country was prepared to make planes available to Ukraine, but that it would only do so through the NATO alliance… ‘We did not agree to supply planes by ourselves because it must be the decision of the whole of NATO,’ he said during a press conference on Polish television. ‘The USA does not want these planes to come to Ukraine from American bases,’ the adviser, Jakub Kumoch, told public broadcaster TVP Info. ‘Poland is ready to act, but only within the framework of the alliance, within the framework of NATO.’”
And NATO is opposed to such a move…
The Guardian wrote on March 9:
“The US and Europe have worked hard to keep their differences over sanctions and oil embargos to a public minimum, and tried to accommodate each other’s national interests. So it was striking on Tuesday when first the Pentagon described a Polish offer to send planes to the US airbase in Ramstein as ‘untenable’, and then the deputy US secretary of state said the US had not been consulted about the plan… The upshot after this mini-debacle is Russia retains air superiority. Ukrainian pilots who were being trained in Poland to fly the planes are now grounded with no machines with which to defend their country. An opportunity has been squandered… Unfortunately, they are also the anti-aircraft defence that Ukraine lacks. Nato, as its constitution requires, looks after its own….
“Unfortunately for Harris, [her] planned trip [to Poland and Rumania] suddenly became a lot more tricky in the last three days… Now she’ll be landing later today in the middle of a massive diplomatic mess… And she is charged with dealing with aspects of the US-Mexico border… border policies are a horrible mess…”
On her last trip to Europe, Harris failed. Is she going to do better this time?
Deutsche Welle wrote on March 4:
“Global leaders have reacted with dismay after fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces caused a fire at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The incident sparked fears of a potential nuclear disaster….
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Europe to ‘wake up’ as he reminded continental leaders of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, considered the worst of its kind both in cost and casualties. ‘I am addressing all Ukrainians, all Europeans and everyone who knows the word Chernobyl,’ Zelenskyy said in the wake of the fire. ‘Tens of thousands had to be evacuated and Russia wants to repeat that, and is already repeating it, but six times bigger.’
“The Chernobyl nuclear site was captured by Russian forces… Zelenskyy said Ukraine has 15 nuclear reactors and ‘if there is an explosion it is the end for everyone. Do not let Europe die in the nuclear catastrophe.’”
Allegedly, the radiation level at the power plant is normal, but one wonders: What would NATO do if Russia were to destroy a nuclear power plant, causing a nuclear disaster?
Daily Mail wrote on March 6:
“Russian forces are firing rockets at a physics institute in the city of Kharkiv that contains nuclear material and a reactor which could lead to a ‘large-scale ecological disaster’ if hit… The science institute houses the Neutron Source nuclear research facility and contains 37 nuclear fuel cells in its core.”
It was also pointed out that “Russian soldiers are reportedly using imprecise Grad launchers in the assault,” and that “the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology was responsible for the first nuclear bomb developed by the Soviet Union.”
The Sun wrote on March 9:
“EUROPE could be hit by a devastating radiation leak from the Chernobyl nuclear site after Russian troops cut off the electricity, Ukraine has warned. The plant, which was stormed by Russian forces last month, has no power supply after troops cut lines connecting it to the national grid on Wednesday… Emergency diesel generators are supplying back-up power to cool spent fuel rods in a waste store, but they will last only 48 hours, officials said.
“Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warned: ‘After that, cooling systems of the storage facility for spent nuclear fuel will stop, making radiation leaks imminent.’… there are about 20,000 spent fuel assemblies which cannot be kept cool amid the power outage.
“Without electricity, experts fear the ventilation systems at the plant will also stop working – exposing staff to dangerous doses of radiation….
“It also emerged the Russians had disabled safety warnings and cut off data transmissions. Consequently authorities do not know what the current radiation levels at the site…”
“Experts” stated that there is no reason to fear radiation. BUT can they be trusted?
Greenwich Time wrote on March 4:
“Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., was sharply criticized by fellow lawmakers on both sides of the aisle Thursday after saying that the ‘only way’ to end the crisis in Ukraine is for Russians to assassinate President Vladimir Putin. ‘Is there a Brutus in Russia? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military?’ Graham tweeted, referencing the Roman politician who participated in the assassination of Julius Caesar and the German military officer who attempted to kill Adolf Hitler…
“Graham also called for Russians to assassinate Putin during a Thursday appearance on ‘Hannity’ on Fox News. Moreover, he introduced legislation this week calling for Putin to be investigated for war crimes. On Wednesday, Sean Hannity suggested on his radio show that the United States carry out an assassination of Putin, saying, ‘You cut the head of the snake off, and you kill the snake.’”
Breitbart added on March 4:
“Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) on Friday expressed support for Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) call to see Russian President Vladimir Putin assassinated following Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, though the NeverTrump lawmaker did pour cold water on the idea that the United States should be the country that kills Putin… ‘I hope in some of these sanctions, and the sanctions against the oligarchs, is that the population does turn on him…. who say “there’s a lot of pain with these sanctions, we have maybe upwards of 9,000 Russian soldiers already dead. We’ve had enough.”
“‘Even though I’ve said we need a no-fly zone over Ukraine, I can understand that it comes with real risk. I just fear, ultimately, we’re going to be in a position to have to do it anyway,’ Kinzinger said.”
The Sun wrote on March 5:
“ROGUE Russian generals should be secretly handed whatever it takes to rid the world of Vladimir Putin, security experts said last night. They warned a failure to assassinate their ‘demented’ president now would tighten his grip on power for at least another decade… Calls have been growing in recent days for senior Russian spooks and generals to rise up against Putin. And yesterday reports claimed many were losing faith in their leader — as more evidence emerged of shocking war crimes during the barbaric invasion…
“Meanwhile it has emerged that hero president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has survived three assassination attempts — after Russian anti-war FSB officers tipped off Ukrainian security services…
“This week ex-Kremlin insider Sergei Pugachev claimed former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev was helping lead a plot against Putin…
“Last night historian Professor Anthony Glees, an expert on security and intelligence, said Western spooks should now ruthlessly target Putin’s circle… ‘Those around Putin are killers — they are like SS officers of old. But there will be serious commanders and generals who have doubts…’
“Former Labour Foreign Secretary Lord Owen said yesterday that the Russian military was ‘the only force that could topple him.’ But he added: ‘I wouldn’t give great hopes for that… [His] face has changed, and with that face change appears to have come a very substantial change of behaviour. He is contemptuous of everyone. Arrogant. Ruthless.’”
It has been speculated that the huge Russian convoy which is on its way to Ukraine’s capital, has been stopped through sabotage by Russian soldiers. The Sun wrote on March 5: “Kyiv is believed to remain the prime objective for the Russians. And a massive convoy of armoured vehicles has been lurking nearby apparently preparing for a protracted siege. However, mystery surrounds the so-called ‘Convoy of Death’ as it hasn’t made any significant progress for days. Russian forces are believed to be being increasingly demoralized…”
As if America had not assassinated or at least tried to assassinate unwelcome leaders in other countries before! History of Nazi Germany under Hitler is repeating itself right now in Nazi Russia under the new Hitler—Putin.
Axios wrote on March 5:
“New efforts by the Kremlin to bully the press and silence dissent are forcing independent media and social networks out of the country… Russians are losing access to independent reporting about the war, while the West loses insight into an already isolated leader…
“Bloomberg and the BBC said they are suspending operations in Russia, while CNN, CBS and ABC ceased broadcasting in the country after lawmakers approved new legislation Friday that threatens to imprison journalists and individuals for up to 15 years if they publish what Moscow deems to be ‘fake’ information about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine… German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, and Meduza, an independent Russian publication based in Latvia, were… blocked… Russia also blocked Facebook entirely Friday, after partially restricting the social network last week…
“Putin’s propaganda push has intensified as the protests erupt at home. The Kremlin is relying on state media to sell the war as a success domestically…”
Putin’s strategy is SO similar to that of Goebbel’s, Hitler’s propaganda minister, that the parallels are striking… and a helpless world complains…
The New York Post wrote on March 5:
“Russian forces defied a brokered ceasefire and continued shelling the strategic Ukrainian port city of Mariupol as hundreds of thousands of women, children and elderly were attempting to flee Saturday, the local government said.
“Despite an agreement that would allow the Red Cross to guarantee a ceasefire, the escape from the city was thrown into chaos. Mariupol authorities announced they stopped the mass evacuation of an expected 215,000 people, about three hours after the cease fire was supposed to start because of the continued bombardment. The pummeled city was left without power, heat or water services after multiple days of rocket fire and food supplies were running low.”
The Sun added on March 5:
“Mariupol has been one of the most brutalised cities of war as the Russians have blockaded it and cut off food, water, heating and transport in the depths of winter. It has been compared to the Nazi blockade of Leningrad in World War 2.”
This was so predictable. Subsequent “ceasefire” agreements failed likewise. Putin is a pathological liar. He follows the desires of his father, the Devil. One cannot trust anything Putin says. But there may be even more to Putin’s behavior.
d-online wrote on March 5:
“[Some] argue that Putin has mental problems. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly told then-US President Obama in 2014 that she was ‘confused’ by Putin… as one far removed from any reality.
“That same year, neuroscientist Ian Robertson published an essay in Psychology Today entitled, ‘The Danger Lurking Inside Vladimir Putin’s Brain.’ In it, the psychologist… writes: ‘There is little doubt that his brain has changed so much, both neurologically and physically, that he firmly and earnestly believes that without him, Russia will experience its downfall.’ Long periods of absolute power would have made him highly self-absorbed, narcissistic, and blind to risk.
Such warnings are being raised again today: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Putin could be an ‘irrational actor’. And: ‘At the moment we have to accept that Vladimir Putin may be thinking without any logic and not seeing the imminent disaster.’…
“The US Senate Intelligence Committee also held a meeting on the subject. Exactly what was discussed is not known; the meetings are held in strict secrecy. ‘I wish I could say more about that,’ Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio wrote on Twitter. But he can say that for many there is obviously something wrong with Putin and that clear change could be seen in the Russian President.
“For Condoleezza Rice, too, the man is now ‘another Putin,’ she told Fox News. Rice was first a national security adviser under George W. Bush, then US Secretary of State – and was often present at meetings with Putin. He was always calculating and cold. On the other hand, he now appears ‘capricious’ to her. According to NBC, US intelligence services also have reliable evidence that Putin is increasingly frustrated and is increasingly venting this anger on confidants. This is unusual, after all, as the former KGB officer usually had his emotions under control.”
What is normally not being considered, but should be, is that Putin’s change may be caused by demonic possession, as was the case with Hitler.
The Associated Press wrote on March 6:
“The Russian tanks and missiles besieging Ukraine also are threatening the food supply and livelihoods of people in Europe, Africa and Asia who rely on the vast, fertile farmlands of the Black Sea region — known as the ‘breadbasket of the world.’
“Ukrainian farmers have been forced to neglect their fields as millions flee, fight or try to stay alive. Ports are shut down that send wheat and other food staples worldwide to be made into bread, noodles and animal feed. And there are worries Russia, another agricultural powerhouse, could have its grain exports upended by Western sanctions.
“… While there have not yet been global disruptions to wheat supplies, prices have surged 55% since a week before the invasion amid concerns about what could happen next. If the war is prolonged, countries that rely on affordable wheat exports from Ukraine could face shortages starting in July… That could create food insecurity and throw more people into poverty in places like Egypt and Lebanon, where diets are dominated by government-subsidized bread…
“Russia and Ukraine combine for nearly a third of the world’s wheat and barley exports. Ukraine also is a major supplier of corn and the global leader in sunflower oil, used in food processing. The war could reduce food supplies just when prices are at their highest levels since 2011. A prolonged conflict would have a big impact some 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) away in Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer. Millions rely on subsidized bread made from Ukrainian grains to survive, with about a third of people living in poverty…
“War-ravaged Syria recently announced it would cut spending and ration staples. In nearby Lebanon, where a massive explosion at the Beirut port in 2020 destroyed the country’s main grain silos, authorities are scrambling to make up for a predicted wheat shortage, with Ukraine providing 60% of its supply…
“African countries imported agricultural products worth $4 billion from Russia in 2020, and about 90% was wheat…
“Ukraine supplies the EU with just under 60% of its corn and nearly half of a key component in the grains needed to feed livestock. Russia, which provides the EU with 40% of its natural gas needs, is similarly a major supplier of fertilizer, wheat and other staples.”
Christ said that religious deception, wars and rumors of wars, famines and pestilences, as well as earthquakes, signify the “beginning of sorrows.”
Israel Today wrote on March 8:
“China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday called Russia his country’s ‘most important strategic partner’ as Beijing continues to refuse to condemn the invasion of Ukraine despite growing pressure from the US and European Union to use its influence to rein in Moscow. The Chinese foreign minister said that ties with Moscow constitute ‘one of the most crucial bilateral relationships in the world.’ … Clearly, well before the invasion, China was aware of what Russia was planning, as the largest two communist countries in the world have been plotting for decades to form an alliance to counter a now-weakened and bewildered US and Europe in order to become the new global superpower… Iran [is] closely aligned with Russia and China and [is] quickly developing nuclear weapons.
“For many years, China and Russia have increased their alignment against liberal Western foreign policy, and they have chosen their moment to make it clear that this new world order is a fait accompli. Their massive armies have been carrying out joint exercises shoring up a dominant military alliance… And for Israel, the US, once a faithful bulwark to these northern threats, now feels more like a distant ally, not close enough geographically to be of much concern to the Russian Bear and Chinese Dragon fuming in the North, nor politically or militarily prepared for any serious fight for anything anywhere….”
Express added on March 8:
“Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are looking to increase their gas trade exponentially with the development of three gas pipelines that will flow from Russia to China.”
The Kings of the East, under Russian and Chinese leadership, are clearly emerging, while unreliable America is retreating more and more from the world scene.
The Associated Press reported on March 6:
“Over the past five years, hundreds of Jehovah’s Witnesses have been subjected to raids, arrests and prosecution in Russia. Many others have fled… About 5,000 Witnesses in Ukraine have left, seeking protection in other countries… For Witnesses in Russia–… there are about 170,000 of them — there’s been anxiety since the country’s Supreme Court declared the Christian denomination an extremist group in 2017. Hundreds have been arrested and imprisoned. Their homes and places of worship, known as Kingdom Halls, have been raided, and the national headquarters seized. The Witnesses’ modern, Russian-language translation of the Bible has been banned along with its globally circulated magazines, Awake and Watchtower…
“Although Witnesses are Christians, they are guided by distinctive beliefs and practices, including the refusal of blood transfusions, abstinence from voting, conscientious objection to military service, and avoidance of participation in national ceremonies and holidays… Aside from Russia, Witnesses experience persecution in several former Soviet republics, including Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan…
“In Eritrea, where military conscription is mandatory, there are several Witnesses in prison. In South Korea, where most young men must perform military service, Witnesses were routinely imprisoned for refusing until a 2018 court decision affirmed their rights to conscientious objection…”
Rebel News wrote on March 5:
“If Pastor Artur Pawlowski is indeed the most persecuted person in Canada under the COVID-19 restriction regime we have been living through these past two years, his brother Dawid Pawlowski is very likely the runner up in this sad, anti-democratic pageant of political theatre. Neither Dawid nor Artur ever imagined that feeding the homeless, opening their church and praying with protesters at freedom rallies and with truckers at the Coutts blockade would land them behind bars, and at any other time in Canadian history it likely wouldn’t have. But in the world of pandemic politics, people daring to speak out or standing by their Charter rights is evidently punishable by jailing, especially if you are a Christian.
“You likely know that Pastor Artur has been in jail for weeks now and that he was denied bail for the above mentioned alleged ‘crimes’. Artur has faced five arrests and three incarceration in the past two years, and Dawid has been right by his side throughout all of this. He was even thrown in jail with Artur during his first two stints in jail… On March 2, Dawid was pulled over at a check stop and then arrested based on a breach of probation resulting from sanctions assigned by Justice Adam Germain.
“You may recall Justice Germain’s bizarre ruling against both Artur and Dawid, which prohibited them from travelling and implemented Soviet-style compelled speech mandates on the brothers insisting that they read a court prepared statement on COVID-19 after making any public commentary on matters critical of the government’s pandemic response. Many of those sanctions were stayed pending an appeal, which Sarah Miller, the Pawlowskis’ legal counsel, is working tirelessly on to ensure the troubling ruling is overturned altogether. We do have some good news to report, though. While Artur unfortunately remains behind bars, thanks to the efforts of Sarah Miller and JSS Barristers, Dawid has already been released and is at home resting with his family…”
Dictator Trudeau and his agents are like leopards which do not change their spots…
Deutsche Welle wrote on March 9:
“Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he would recommend a national emergency be declared after recent floods across large parts of the east coast took 22 lives… The declaration was made possible by a new law passed in late 2020 following… devastating Australian bushfires… Some of the flooded communities in the current emergency were battling wildfires two years ago…
“While touring the worst-hit areas of New South Wales, Morrison said on Wednesday, ‘Australia is becoming a harder country to live in because of these natural disasters.’ Floodwaters reached their peak in Queensland’s capital, Brisbane, Australia’s third-most populous city, on February 28 after it was inundated by 80% of its usual annual rainfall in the previous three days. More than 20,000 homes and businesses had been flooded in southeast Queensland alone and 13 people died. Parts of New South Wales’ capital, Sydney, Australia’s most populous city, were flooded after receiving almost 75% of its average annual rainfall since January 1, enduring the wettest start to a year ever recorded. Some communities witnessed the highest floods ever recorded in their locations. Morrison called the flooding ‘a major catastrophe … of national proportions.’
“… many flood victims are angry that rescue by authorities didn’t come earlier and relief efforts were not enough… Although rainfall has now calmed, 40,000 people around New South Wales had been ordered to evacuate their homes, including dozens in Sydney… Morrison, who is lagging in polls ahead of an election before May, kept media away from his meetings with flood victims, which he said was to protect their privacy….”
The New York Post wrote on March 4:
“As the civilian death toll mounts in Ukraine and the world prepares for unspeakable crimes against humanity yet to come, the Biden administration said Friday it’s close to announcing a Russian-brokered deal with Iran that will flood the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism with billions of dollars and leave Tehran on the nuclear weapons threshold…
“The new deal takes Moscow’s side — flouting the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, lifting sanctions and legitimizing Iran’s nuclear program without first demanding a full accounting of previous and current violations… The deal will directly subsidize the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations — a win for another Russian client state, Syria, as well…”
Putin reportedly demanded from Iran to sign trade agreements with Russia in exchange for the Iran nuclear deal. While the focus is on Russia and Ukraine, Iran is working towards becoming a nuclear power, with the help of Putin and, indirectly, Biden. At the same time, North Korea is conducting missile tests again, and China is preparing for its invasion of Taiwan.
Breitbart wrote on March 9:
“Last month, Breitbart News fact-checked the Biden administration’s misleading claim that Florida legislators were considering a ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill that was, the White House said, ‘designed to attack LGBTQI+ kids.’ The facts: [T]he legislation that is causing such a stir among Democrats and journalists does not mention ‘gay’ or any specific sexuality… The bill… reads, ‘Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.’
“There is nothing in the bill about ‘attack[ing] LGBTQI+’ children, nor does the bill, which passed the legislature Tuesday, say anything hateful about any sexual orientation. Yet White House press secretary Jen Psaki repeated the false claim that ‘Florida passed hateful legislation targeting vulnerable students.’
“Neither Psaki nor the White House has even produced any evidence that there are self-identified ‘LGBTQI+’ students among the kindergarteners and first through third grade pupils who are protected by, not attacked by, the Florida legislation.”
Rather, radical LGBTQI+ adherents want to indoctrinate very young children with sexual concepts which are being described as perfectly normal and acceptable.
Newsmax wrote on March 5:
“Former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr ‘wouldn’t know voter fraud if it was staring him in the face,’ former President Donald Trump said Friday in a statement released by his Save America PAC. Barr, in an interview with NBC News that aired earlier Friday, said Trump became ‘very angry’ when Barr told him that there was no evidence the 2020 election was rigged. ‘I told him that all this stuff was b…about election fraud,’ Barr said. ‘It was wrong to be shoveling it out the way his team was. And he started asking me about different theories and … I was able to tell him that “this is wrong because of this.” Trump ‘was obviously getting very angry about this, so I said, “Look, I understand you’re upset with me and I’m perfectly happy to tender my resignation,” and then … he slapped the desk and he said, “Accepted. Accepted … Go home. Don’t go back to your office. Go home. You’re done.”’…
“Trump in his statement slammed Barr as ‘weak, ineffective, and totally scared of being impeached, which the Democrats were constantly threatening to do.’ ‘They “broke’ him,” Trump added. ‘He should have acted much faster on the Mueller Report, instead of allowing the fake Russia, Russia, Russia, Hoax to linger for so long, but it was the Election Fraud and Irregularities that he refused to act on because he wanted to save his own hide — and he did. ‘He never got impeached, contempt charges never went forward, and the Democrats were very happy with him — but I wasn’t. The Unselect Committee of Political Hacks continues to spin its wheels in trying to fabricate a narrative that doesn’t exist. The only thing they refuse to look into is the massive Election Fraud that took place in the 2020 Presidential Election.’”
Barr reportedly also told the GOP to move on and leave Trump behind.
The Hill reported on March 4:
“Former Vice President Mike Pence on Friday will rebuke those in the Republican Party who have praised Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent weeks, including most prominently former President Trump. ‘There is no room in this party for apologists for Putin. There is only room for champions of freedom,’ Pence will tell a gathering of Republican National Committee (RNC) donors, according to excerpts shared with The Hill. The comments from Pence are a tacit criticism of Trump and others who have complimented Putin’s intelligence and strategy as he directed Russia to invade Ukraine without provocation.
“Trump last week said on a radio show that Putin’s decision to unilaterally declare portions of eastern Ukraine as independent republics was ‘pretty savvy’ and ‘genius.’… Trump shifted his tone earlier this week, calling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ‘a holocaust.’ The Trump administration during its four years imposed harsh sanctions on Russia, but Trump himself frequently faced criticism for his praise of Putin personally and his rejection of the intelligence community’s determination that Moscow interfered in the 2016 presidential election.”
It does not appear that Barr and Pence will win their fight against Trump, as far as the GOP and conservative voters are concerned.
Acknowledgement and Disclaimer
These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.
We have reviewed so far relationships between the Father and Jesus Christ; man with fellow man; those within the family unit; and our own personal relationship with God.
In any great relationship, friendship is a fundamental and essential part along with other requirements such as honesty, trust, loyalty and a proper lifestyle.
Great Relationships in the Bible
In this Q&A, we are beginning to review examples of some of the great relationships in the pages of the Bible.
Abraham and Lot
When God told Abram (later Abraham) to “get out of your country, from your kindred and from your father’s house To a land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1), Lot went with him (verse 4). In the following chapter, we read that “Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock” (Genesis 13:5-7). The result was that Abraham gave Lot a choice of whether to go to the right or to the left (verse 9), even though it would have been Abraham’s prerogative to choose. As it turns out, Lot chose poorly, and it was even more troublesome that he moved into the wicked city of Sodom to dwell and live with the evil Sodomites.
In the next chapter, we read about Lot’s captivity and rescue. Starting in Genesis 14:12 we read that “They also took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.” But help was at hand. “Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; and they were allies with Abram. Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. So he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother’s son, Lot, and his goods, as well as the women and the people” (Genesis 14:13-16). Abraham put his life on the line for Lot to restore his nephew’s freedom. That is what can happen in good families and shows the deep respect and affection that Abraham had for Lot and for their relationship.
Later, God announced to Abraham that He was about to destroy Sodom, due to their wickedness. Abraham pleaded with God in what some have called one of the most moving passages in the Bible, asking time and again to spare Sodom if at least ten righteous people were to be found in the city. God agreed, but not even 10 righteous people could be found. However, God rescued righteous Lot, his wife and their two daughters, but Lot’s wife wanted to turn back and became a pillar of salt. Undoubtedly, when Abraham uttered his heartrending pleas, he had Lot in mind as well, not wanting that he was to perish (even though he must have realized Lot’s big mistake in settling down in that city). But true friendship is willing to overlook mistakes and act mercifully.
Moses and Aaron
Two brothers were parted when Moses, at the age of three months, was put into an ark of bulrushes which was placed into the river (Exodus 2:2-3), while Aaron, the firstborn, stayed with his parents. We know that Moses grew up in the Pharaoh’s household for 40 years (Acts 7:23) and then fled to Midian and was there another 40 years (Acts 7:30) but most of his last 40 years was spent with Aaron at his side through the encounters with Pharaoh and the ten plagues (Exodus chapters 4-12) and the subsequent desert wanderings. Moses died when he was 120 years old (Deuteronomy 34:7).
Moses, at the age of 80 had had the experience at the burning bush, and when he was told that he would have to return to Egypt and confront Pharaoh to let the Israelites go from their slavery, he pleaded with God saying that “I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” Exodus 4:10). God replied: “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, he is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. Now you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you shall do. So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God” (Exodus 4:14-16).
Subsequently, the record shows that Moses, not Aaron, mainly spoke to Pharaoh, being mighty in words and deeds (Acts 7:22). In due time, Aaron listened to the people in building a golden calf, kindling Moses’ wrath and holding Aaron responsible (Exodus 32:21), and because of envy, Aaron and Miriam would later speak against Moses, questioning his authority (Numbers 12:1).
Nevertheless, Moses undoubtedly forgave Aaron, and it was a great friendship and relationship that lasted for 40 years and, through the workings of God, they achieved the freedom of Israel from subjugation to the Egyptians. What a close relationship that was, and had to be.
David & Jonathan
We read in 1 Samuel 18:1-3 the close friendship that David and Jonathan had: “Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father’s house anymore. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.”
We read in 1 Samuel 19 that Saul persecuted David, and Saul’s son, Jonathan, showed his loyalty to his close friend.
On the website of beliefnet, we read: “This is the essence of friendship, to love another as you love yourself. Not only this, but Jonathan sacrificed for David, stripping himself of the items which represented his power and position, and giving them to him. Jonathan was also unwaveringly loyal to David, warning him of King Saul’s treachery and intent to kill him. The two friends shared a close emotional bond as well, and were unafraid of sharing their feelings, weeping when it became clear that David had to leave. These three elements—displayed love, loyalty, and emotional openness, are three essential traits that psychologists deem necessary for friendships to thrive.
“To clarify an area of contention regarding the relationship between David and Jonathan, the Hebrew word for love used in 1 Samuel, in the context of their friendship, has clear diplomatic and platonic friendship implications. David and Jonathan are a fantastic example of the male friendship that we often lack in our modern culture—men don’t often form such close bonds. God created both men and women to be able to establish these intimate, life-long friendships. To strive for less is to miss out on something wonderful.”
The friendship between David and Jonathan was very deep and lasted until Jonathan’s death. We can read about David’s deep sorrow for Jonathan when he learned about his tragic death in battle.
Elijah and Elisha
Elijah is first mentioned in 1 Kings 17 where he proclaimed a drought for 3½ years as punishment for worshipping Baal. Later, God answered Elijah’s prayers and the priests of Baal were slaughtered by the Israelites. He escaped from the wrathful Queen Jezebel. He then became somewhat depressed and God gave him tasks as we read in 1 Kings 19:15-18: “Then the Lord said to him: ‘Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.’”
He saw that he was not the only one alive who believed in the true God and was shown that there were 7,000 of whom Elijah had had no knowledge. He was also commissioned to anoint Elisha to take his place and this is where this close relationship and friendship started. Elijah soon found Elisha and threw his mantle on him (1 Kings 19:19-21) and Elisha followed and served him.
Elisha left everything to follow Elijah, including his family, friends and his way of life. Today, followers of Jesus Christ leave behind their old way of life and follow the Saviour of mankind.
They both performed many miracles and worked together for several years before Elijah was taken up into heaven (the first heaven) by a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11), to be transported to another place here on earth from where he continued to operate. His mantle fell on Elisha (verse 13) to continue the Work of God. During their time together, it is obvious that they had a very close relationship as they worked in unity as God decreed. In fact, from the three tasks which God had given to Elijah, he only performed the first one (anointing Elisha as a prophet.) The other two tasks were carried out by Elisha (anointing Hazael as king over Syria and Jehu as king over Israel), but there was no envy on Elijah’s part that his successor would continue the Work and perform even mightier miracles than Elijah had done.
Naomi and Ruth
This is a most unusual story in that Elimelech, Naomi and their two sons left Bethlehem, Judah, to go to Moab because of a famine in the land (Ruth 1:1-2). Elimelech died (verse 3) and the two sons married and dwelt there about 10 years (verse 4). However, both sons died (verse 5).
Naomi lost her husband and two sons in a foreign land and decided to return home. Both of her daughters-in-law started on the journey with her but she urged them both to turn back to their homeland (verses 8-13). One daughter-in-law, Orpah, kissed Naomi and returned home but Ruth clung to her (verse 14). We read an impassioned plea in verses 15-16: “But Ruth said: ‘Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me.’”
That was quite a statement from someone who was initially not brought up in the fear of God and showed a real commitment by Ruth, and in faith. It is obvious that Ruth had learned about the true God, mainly through her mother-in-law, and that she had become a believer. She referred to God as “your God and my God.” (Please note that the phrase, “shall be” in verse 16 of Ruth 1 has been added and is not in the Hebrew. For instance, virtually all German Bibles, including the Luther Bible; the Elberfelder Bible, the Menge Bible and the Schlachter Bible, read: “Your people is my people, and your God is my God.”) The rest of the story in the 4 chapters of the book of Ruth shows a very close and personal relationship between the two women and an enduring friendship. Such a friendship revealed many qualities that a close relationship should have, that of loyalty and encouragement, help and sound advice, as well as self-sacrifice when someone was in great need of such devotion and support.
Ruth married Boaz and the baby that they had was Obed, who was the grandfather of King David. This is quite a story with Ruth’s relationships with Naomi and her husband, Boaz, all being part of God’s plan for Israel!
(To be continued)
Lead writers: Brian Gale (United Kingdom) and Norbert Link
compiled by Dave Harris
“Putin—the Devil’s Tool,” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:
Many have pointed out the striking similarities between Hitler and Putin. Events did not occur accidentally in the life of Hitler, but were carefully designed by none other than Satan the Devil. The same is true today when focusing on Putin, but there is MORE!
“Putin—Werkzeug des Teufels,” is the title of a new AufPostenStehen program, presented by Norbert Link. This program covers the same material as presented in English.
A Tech Meeting was held on Sunday, March 6, 2022, via Google Meet. Hosted by Eric Rank, most of our time was used to prepare our new Ad Campaign. Because social media sources now impose many restrictions, we are finding it more challenging in placing ads. However, we will still be able to run modified ads in selected markets which will lead viewers to our home webpage.
“Die kommende Große Trübsal und unsere Verantwortung heute,” is the title of this week’s new German sermon, presented by Michael Link. Title in English: “The Coming Great Tribulation and Our Responsibility Today.”
“Forever Young,” the sermonette presented last Sabbath by Frank Bruno, is now posted. Here is a summary:
It is no surprise that we all want to be healthy, vital, and relevant in our daily lives. Most of us would also appreciate fewer wrinkles and gray hair. Nonetheless, life requires much from us. This sermonette will explore scriptures that can show us how we can make the most of this life that God has blessed us with. It will also illustrate how we can simplify with a renewed focus on obeying God. The only forever we can attain is through God’s word.
“The End of Violence,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Eric Rank, is now posted. Here is a summary:
From the time of man’s beginning on Earth until the return of Christ, violence is a scourge. What are the causes of violence, and what will it take for it to come to an end?
This Update is an official publication by the ministry of the Church of the Eternal God in the United States of America; the Church of God, a Christian Fellowship in Canada; and the Global Church of God in the United Kingdom.
Editorial Team: Norbert Link, Dave Harris, Rene Messier, Brian Gale, Margaret Adair, Johanna Link, Eric Rank, Michael Link, Anna Link, Kalon Mitchell, Manuela Mitchell, Dawn Thompson
Technical Team: Eric Rank, Shana Rank
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While we do not solicit the general public for funds, contributions are gratefully welcomed and are tax-deductible in the U.S. and Canada.
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On March 12, 2022, Eric Rank will present the sermonette, title, “I Don’t Feel Like It” and Dave Harris will present the sermon, titled, “When Trouble Comes!”
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.
Thomson/Reuters wrote on February 25:
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday… the bombing of Kyiv was reminiscent of Nazi Germany’s attacks during World War Two…
“Zelenskyy said there was now a ‘new iron curtain’ between Russia and the rest of the world, adding in a later speech his nation had been ‘left alone.’ ‘Who is ready to fight alongside us? I don’t see anyone.’”
The Washington Post wrote on February 24:
“By 1939, parts of Czechoslovakia had already been carved off and taken over by Nazi Germany, which claimed that millions of ethnic Germans were being persecuted there. The previous September, European powers, seeking to avoid war, had acquiesced and done nothing…
“On March 15, 1939, the sickly Czech president, Emil Hacha, was in Hitler’s study surrounded by the Führer’s henchmen. ‘Hitler was at his most intimidating,’ historian Ian Kershaw wrote in his 2000 biography of the Nazi leader. ‘He launched into a violent tirade against the Czechs.’ The Nazis needed to take over Czechoslovakia to protect Germany. Hacha must agree or his country would be immediately attacked and Prague, its capital, bombed. Hacha fainted… but was revived and gave in to Hitler’s demand. German troops marched in a few hours later. Hitler said it was the happiest day of his life.
“Russia’s Vladimir Putin did not bother to speak with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, before launching his assault Thursday. But some observers see brutal similarities to Hitler’s seizure of Czechoslovakia just before World War II. ‘This is all truly dictated by our national interests and dictated by care for the future of our country,’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday after the Russian assault began. Putin on Monday claimed pro-Russian residents of Ukraine faced ‘genocide.’…
“In March 1938, during the run-up to World War II, Hitler had first engineered the Nazi takeover of Austria, which already had strong pro-Nazi sympathies. Seven months later, he was plotting the seizure of part of Czechoslovakia, claiming that ethnic Germans in the Sudeten regions bordering eastern Germany were being mistreated. ‘I must also declare before the German people that in the Sudeten German problem my patience is now at an end,’ Hitler said on Sept. 26, 1938. Czechoslovakia must ‘give the Germans their freedom, or we will get this freedom for ourselves.’
“Four days later, during the famous Munich conference — now known as the centerpiece of the ‘appeasement’ of the Nazis — Great Britain, France and Italy agreed to the handover of the Sudeten region to Germany, hoping it would prevent further aggression. ‘It is the last territorial claim which I have to make in Europe,’ Hitler said. Within six months, he took the rest of Czechoslovakia, and on Sept. 1, 1939, he attacked Poland, starting World War II….
“Hitler wanted to take over all of Europe… Putin wants to restore Czarist Russia, the Russian empire. It’s a threat in particular to Finland, which was part of the Russian empire, to the Baltic states, which were part of the Russian empire, and to Poland, which was part of the Russian empire…”
Some have even wondered whether it is Putin’s intent to include East Germany in his envisaged new Russian Empire.
The Sun wrote on February 25:
“A MAD, murderous dictator threatens to unleash a nuclear world war. No longer is this a mere movie plot. Today it is terrifyingly real. It is paramount, as in 1939, that the free peoples of the West defeat this hideous new evil, this Hitler for our times… Putin is inflicting his monstrous tyranny on an innocent population. And, if unrestrained, he will keep coming.
“Decades of unpunished crimes and unchallenged power have addled his mind. Forget his ludicrous denials and lies — such as Russia being ‘threatened’ by Nato… or that he is ‘de-Nazifying’ Ukraine. The chilling reality is that he has publicly declared that a democratic country of 43 million people has no right to exist.
“With age now against him, he intends to go down in history as the man who, by force, folded Ukraine into Russia before establishing a new empire to replace the Soviet Union he still mourns. Putin will turn a deaf ear to the screams of children he orphans — and a blind eye to the cities he destroys and the thousands he slaughters, his own soldiers included. He believes this is his destiny…
“Most of us in the West are not currently blessed with great leaders and Putin knows it. The fractious, feeble, hand-wringing squabblers of the EU. America’s frail, doddering Joe Biden, pathetically intoning as the tanks rolled in that ‘Jill and I are praying for’ Ukraine…
“Leaders even congratulated Putin on winning blatantly rigged elections. Angela Merkel brainlessly closed Germany’s nuclear power stations and left her country mainly reliant on Russian gas and coal… Russia is not, and was not, our friend. Nor China. Nor evidently is President Imran Khan of Pakistan… [Neither is India which did not condemn Russia for its invasion.]
“All of us in the West should have woken up years ago. But if there was still any doubt about Putin, his not-so-veiled threat to nuke countries standing in his way must end them for good. The man is deranged.”
The Sun published on February 25 a strongly-worded editorial by Piers Morgan, with the title, “Knock Him Out.”
It continued:
“WHO’S going to stop him?… I don’t see any answer. Oh, I hear lots of talk.
“Boris Johnson, desperate to restore his shattered reputation as the partygate scandal still rages, is giving it the full Churchillian rhetoric and demanding: ‘Diplomatically, politically, economically — and eventually, militarily — this hideous and barbaric venture of Vladimir Putin must end in failure.’ Fine words, Prime Minister — but how, exactly, do you intend to make him fail?…
“French President Emmanuel Macron, humiliated by his pointless and deluded attempts at diplomacy, is feeling betrayed by Putin’s duplicity in their conversations (a former KGB officer lied? Wow, I’m shocked!) and has ordered Russia to ‘immediately put an end to its military operations’. Why would it do that? Putin’s doing what he’s wanted to do, and planned to do, for years.
“Germany’s new Vice-Chancellor, Robert Habeck, huffed and puffed and warned Russia would have ‘severe political and economic consequences.’ Like what, exactly? His country’s grown so dependent on Russian energy that it can’t afford to do anything meaningful for fear of Putin literally turning their lights out…
“Putin’s a bully; a vile, snivelling, mean, ruthless, heartless, humourless, narcissistic bully… Mike Tyson once so perfectly put it: ‘Everyone’s got a plan [including a bully] until they get punched in the face.’ But who’s going to punch Putin in the face?
“Normally, we could rely on the United States of America to do it, just as they punched Adolf Hitler and the Japanese so hard in the face to help us win the Second World War. However, President Biden is showing about as much will to square up to Putin as a timid tadpole confronted by a great white shark. This is hardly surprising given his cowardly overnight desertion of the Afghan people last summer which continues to cause abject misery and despair in a country thrown back to the Taliban wolves, and which sent Putin the firm message that America no longer had the stomach for a fight. It’s depressingly obvious that the ageing and increasingly decrepit-sounding Biden hasn’t got a clue what to do about this situation… he even smirked and chuckled as reporters bombarded him with questions, as if there was somehow something amusing about it all.
“Nothing about this crisis is anything but incredibly serious and worrying, carrying with it the very real potential to spiral into something utterly catastrophic if it encourages China to follow Russia’s lead and seize Taiwan. As Biden stumbled and mumbled, I saw a leader of the free world racked with confusion and bereft of any real desire to engage with Putin in any kind of language that he will either understand or heed…
“From the moment Russia seized Crimea in 2014, and the world did nothing about it, Putin was emboldened to pursue his long-held dream of restoring the Soviet Union to its former size and power. He’s a gangster, a murderer, a cruel, wicked man for whom human life carries no sanctity or importance. And if he is allowed to invade and conquer Ukraine, he’ll keep on invading other countries he believes should be back in his despotic control. The world has empowered this monster with its deplorably complacent inaction and slavish desire to continue enriching him through global reliance on Russia’s vast energy resources…
“When the Nazis imperilled our liberty, Churchill [said:]… ‘One ought never to turn one’s back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it… If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half. Never run away from anything. Never!’ Right now, we’re running away from the urgent danger this Ukraine invasion represents. Putin is the new Hitler, a power-crazed, unhinged megalomaniac intent on reshaping Europe’s borders by invading sovereign democracies with impunity. And like Hitler, he spews vicious apocalyptic threats to scare off any resistance…
“It has been 70 years since a totalitarian regime tried to do what Russia is doing now, and Hitler would have got away with it if Churchill hadn’t stood up to him so courageously and magnificently, and if the Americans hadn’t flexed their massive military muscles when it really mattered. We’re at that point again…
“In February 2020, then presidential candidate Joe Biden tweeted: ‘Vladimir Putin doesn’t want me to be President. He doesn’t want me to be our nominee. If you’re wondering why — it’s because I’m the only person in this field who’s ever gone toe-to-toe with him.’ He was referring to a 2011 meeting at which Biden claimed he told Putin he had no soul… But the truth is that he’s thrilled Biden is president, believing him to be a weak, dithering strawman who’s big on talk, small on walk. The time for words is over, President Biden. It’s time you lived up to them and went properly toe-to-toe with the soulless tyrant who is currently making a mockery of your empty threats. It’s time to… punch Putin in the face — and knock him out.”
But Biden won’t knock anyone out. He is far too weak for that…
Subsequently, the New York Post published the following editorial from Piers Morgan on February 28:
“When Saddam Hussein invaded Iraq’s neighboring state of Kuwait in 1990, America led a NATO military intervention, Desert Storm, that sent him and his forces packing in just 43 days. President George H.W. Bush explained his decision by saying: ‘The terrible crimes and tortures committed by Saddam’s henchmen against the innocent people of Kuwait are an affront to mankind and a challenge to the freedom of all… no nation will be permitted to brutally assault its neighbor.’
“Bush then quoted two members of the US forces tasked with liberating Kuwait. ‘Listen to one of our great officers out there, Marine Lieutenant General Walter Boomer. He said: “There are things worth fighting for. A world in which brutality and lawlessness are allowed to go unchecked isn’t the kind of world we’re going to want to live in.” And listen to Jackie Jones, an Army lieutenant, when she says, “If we let him get away with this, who knows what’s going to be next?”’…
“If the US lets Putin use his nuke threats to scare them off, Russia will continue its nation-seizing rampage like the Nazis did in 1938/9, and other foes like China and North Korea may feel emboldened to start doing the same. It will be like waving a white flag of surrender.”
Newsmax wrote on February 28:
“An embattled Ukraine moved to solidify its bond with the West Monday by signing an application to join the European Union, while the first round of Ukraine-Russia talks aimed at ending the fighting concluded with no immediate agreements….
“At this stage, Ukraine is many years away from reaching the standards for achieving EU membership, and the 27-nation bloc is expansion-weary and unlikely to take on new members any time soon. Also, any addition to the EU must be approved unanimously, and some member states have complicated approval procedures.
“Overall, the consensus has been that Ukraine’s deep-seated corruption could make it hard for the country to win EU acceptance. Still, in an interview with Euronews on Sunday, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said, ‘We want them in the European Union.’”
Breitbart added on March 2:
“The Parliament of the European Union welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s application to join the bloc in a resolution on Tuesday – a first step in a long and difficult official joining process that Ukraine may not technically qualify for… The European Parliament is one of the less powerful bodies of the bloc…. However, it has only at press time agreed to help Ukraine become a candidate, not a member…”
The European Council is to have an informal meeting on March 10 during which the matter might be discussed.
Deutsche Welle wrote on March 3:
“The Ukrainian and Russian negotiators at talks in Belarus say the two sides have agreed provisions for a number of humanitarian issues. The understanding involves a temporary cease-fire to allow the evacuation of citizens and the delivery of aid to areas where fierce fighting has been taking place. The Ukrainian negotiator said that the second round of cease-fire talks had not yielded the results Kyiv hoped for, but the sides had agreed to speak again. … Podolyak said cease-fires will only take place in designated humanitarian corridor areas. “
Bild Online added on March 3:
“However, the establishment of escape corridors is not a sign of hope, but a sign that Putin now wants all of Ukraine! The two most important points of the Ukrainians – an immediate ceasefire, followed by a permanent ceasefire – were rejected by Putin’s negotiators.
“The Ukrainian side also says that all men between the ages of 18 and 60 would stay behind to defend their cities. The resumed motive of Russia for the escape corridor is that when people have left the cities, Putin’s troops could launch the final attack – without being accused of hitting uninvolved civilians with their rockets.”
Mirror wrote on March 3:
“Russia’s attack on Ukraine is going ‘according to plan’ and the violence will ‘get worse’, … Putin warned today. The Russian President made the alarming comments to Emmanuel Macron, his French counterpart, during a phone call on Thursday afternoon. After hanging up the phone at the end of the exchange, which lasted for an hour and a half, Mr Macron said “the worst is yet to come”.
Breitbart wrote on March 3:
“Despite widely-reported claims that 70 fighter jets were being provided to Ukraine by EU member-states… these plans seem to have fallen through, with Europe’s Josep Borrell Fontelles… being reported to have back-tracked on previous comments regarding the provision of fighter aircraft.”
This “change of mind” came after NATO objected, saying that this would mean getting actively involved in the war between Russia and Ukraine. NATO and “Western allies” also rejected the idea of a no-fly zone over Ukraine, as this would be “tantamount to a declaration of war.”
The Associated Press wrote on February 24:
“Vladimir Putin told the world in the lead-up to Thursday’s attacks on Ukraine that his operation aims to ‘denazify’ Ukraine, a country with a Jewish president who lost relatives in the Holocaust and who heads a Western-backed, democratically elected government… historians see their use as disinformation and a cynical ploy to further the Russian leader’s aims. Israel has proceeded cautiously, seeking not to jeopardize its security ties with the Kremlin, despite what it considers the sacred memory of the 6 million Jews who were murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust….
“Israel has butted heads with certain countries, like Poland, over the memory of the Holocaust. But Israel has appeared more reticent to challenge Putin and his narrative… because of its current security interests. Israel relies on coordination with Russia to allow it to strike targets in Syria, which it says are often weapons caches destined for Israel’s enemies…
“Israel was conspicuously muted in its criticism of Russia in the lead-up to the attacks on Ukraine. Commentator Raviv Drucker wrote in the daily Haaretz that Israel was “on the wrong side of history” with its response… Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stopped short of issuing a public condemnation of Russia’s attack.”
The Times of Israel wrote on February 27:
“Russia on Friday summoned Israel’s Ambassador to Moscow Alexander Ben Zvi to clarify Israel’s position regarding the Ukraine invasion… Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov asked Ben Zvi why Israel was expressing support for the ‘Nazis’ in Ukraine… Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has avoided condemning Russia or even mentioning the country by name… However, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid issued a far more clear condemnation Thursday… “
Israel 365 wrote on February 28:
“Russia has consistently voted to condemn Israel at the United Nations including on 14 separate occasions in 2021. Now the Kremlin is about to see how it feels as Israel prepares to participate in a UN vote condemning the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Jerusalem will co-sponsor and vote in favor of a resolution at the UN condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine…”
Bild Online wrote on February 25:
“For years, the West watched as Putin grew in power. For years nothing was done about his crimes. Now the West is watching how a democratic country in the middle of Europe is being destroyed and many Europeans don’t care… With tears in my eyes and anger in my stomach, I now have to watch my friends fight for their lives, how the Obolon district of Kiev, where I grew up, is now fighting, and at the same time the world is doing nothing.
“As someone who was born Ukraine, I accuse!
“I accuse the SPD of still not separating from Putin’s friend former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder…
“I accuse the left, who for years, despite the criminal wars and the destruction of democracy in Russia, played down the despot Putin and always blamed NATO. They are hypocrites and only talk about human rights when it suits them politically.
“I accuse the federal government and the EU of still not having decided on tough sanctions against Putin. What are you waiting for? What red line does Putin have to cross?
“…a humanitarian catastrophe looms as food becomes scarce, while women and children are forced to sleep in metro stations, while children’s homes must seek shelter for their residents.
“Finally, I accuse the West. In just a few years, Putin’s regime will be forgiven for this criminal war. Ultimately, as always, economic interests and greed for profit will triumph over human rights and freedom. Civil rights activist Martin Luther King once said: ‘In the end, it will not be the words of our enemies that we will remember, but the silences of our friends.’”
Axios wrote on February 25:
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told EU leaders ‘this might be the last time you see me alive’ during a video conference on Thursday night… Shortly before the call, Zelensky gave a televised address saying he was Russia’s ‘number one’ target for capture or assassination, and his family members were the ‘number two’ target. Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, who participated in the video conference, call told the TT news agency that when the EU leaders said goodbye to Zelensky they knew they might not see him again…
“Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on the Ukrainian military to perform a coup against Zelensky and then negotiate with Russia.”
When Zelensky spoke in Munich during the conference, he received a standing ovation from all in attendance. Now the same people are standing idly by and are perhaps watching what might very well be his murder. Biden asked Zelensky to evacuate Kyiv and offered him refuge in the USA. Zelensky declined, saying, “I need ammunition and not a ride.”
Daily Mail reported on February 28:
“More than 400 Russian mercenaries have been flown in from Africa to assassinate Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, it was revealed last night. A private militia known as the Wagner Group allegedly has orders from Vladimir Putin to take out Zelensky – and 23 other government figures – to allow Moscow to take over its eastern European neighbour…”
Apparently, one attempt on his life was thwarted.
Deutsche Welle wrote on February 26:
“An actor, a political satirist, underestimated even by his supporters, decides to switch careers and stand for the highest office in the country. It’s almost inconceivable. And yet, this man has something many politicians lack — something that enables him to rise above himself and shine, especially in times of crisis: He is an outstanding communicator. Many of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s sentences will be remembered for years to come, and will eventually find their way into the history books.
“On June 12, 1987, at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, the former Hollywood actor Ronald Reagan, who had by then been US president for seven years, declaimed the words that are repeatedly quoted whenever people refer to the period that ended the Cold War: ‘Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate… Tear down this wall.’
“Nearly 45 years later, a man with a similar entertainment background speaks to his countrymen in video messages as the national leader, addressing them as ‘Free people! Free country!’ Zelenskyy says things like: ‘We Ukrainians are a peaceful nation. But if we remain silent today, we will be gone tomorrow!’ He is fiercely critical of the lack of support from abroad, saying, ‘We need an anti-war coalition. We are defending our country alone. The most powerful forces from all over the world are looking on.’…
“Observers regard the speech he made just after the Russian invasion began as the best of his life. Emotional, fearless, and resolute, he told the Russian troops: ‘If you attack, you will see our faces, not our backs!’…
“Following the Russian president’s confused, hour-long speech in which he recognized the separatist regions of eastern Ukraine as independent republics, Ukraine’s Zelenskyy reassured his compatriots: ‘Don’t panic! We are strong and ready for anything. We will defeat everyone, because we are Ukraine!’, and in doing so forestalled mass panic.
“When the Russian president speaks of baseless claims of ‘genocide’ in eastern Ukraine, and rants about ‘denazification’ as a pretext for war, it must seem like pure mockery, especially for Zelenskyy. The Ukrainian head of state — who grew up in a Russian-speaking family — is Jewish. His grandfather, who was in the Red Army, lost three of his brothers in the Holocaust…”
The New York Post wrote on February 27:
“Russian President Vladimir Putin is ‘furious’ that his invasion of Ukraine hasn’t been ‘easy’ after Russian troops have been unable to take even one major city in three days of fighting… The Russians are in shock of the fierce resistance they have encountered…”
Newsmax wrote on February 25:
“Russian officials have now threatened ‘serious military-political repercussions’ for [non-NATO members] Finland and Sweden if they make a move to join NATO.”
The New York Post wrote on February 27:
“President Vladimir Putin on Sunday ordered Russian nuclear deterrent forces to be placed on high alert, due to what he described as ‘aggressive statements’ by Western adversaries. The instruction means Putin has ordered Russia’s nuclear weapons prepared for heightened readiness to launch, raising the possibility the Russia-Ukraine war could escalate to a nuclear war….
“Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Sunday warned that Putin could use ‘the most unsavory means,’ including banned chemical or biological weapons, against Ukraine.”
Breitbart added:
“The move is also a reaction to the West announcing hard-hitting financial sanctions against Russian businesses and key individuals, including Putin himself, the president said in televised comments.”
We are dealing with an unpredictable madman who is willing to do everything. He is obviously possessed.
Fox News reported on March 2:
“China on Wednesday said it would not consider sanctioning Russia for its illegal invasion of Ukraine and said it will continue with ‘normal trade cooperation.’ And China abstained during a United Nations General Assembly vote Wednesday on a nonbinding resolution calling on Russia to halt its war on Ukraine and withdraw its military forces. Just five nations opposed the resolution – Russia, Belarus, Eritrea, North Korea and Syria – which passed with 141 aye votes…
“A resolution put forward by the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council condemning Russia’s illegal invasion failed to pass Friday after Russia vetoed the measure and China abstained from voting…”
Newsmax added on March 2:
“Senior Chinese officials told senior Russian officials in early February not to invade Ukraine before the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing Biden administration officials and a European official. The Times said a Western intelligence report indicates senior Chinese officials had some level of knowledge about Russia’s plans or intentions to invade Ukraine…”
Not much of a surprise there!
Religion News Service (RNS) wrote on February 24:
“The physical landscape of Ukraine isn’t the only battle space Russian invaders hope to dominate. For the past decade, the two countries have fought another battle — not over territory but the religious orientation of Ukraine. And if Russia occupies the country, religious freedom will be one of the many casualties.
“Ukraine is an ancient nation, dating back to at least the 10th century, with an eastern Christian identity at its root. Founded at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, Ukraine is the second-largest European country, second only to Russia. While many faiths operate freely in Ukraine, such as Roman Catholics, evangelicals, Muslims and Jews, the country’s population of 43 million is overwhelmingly Christian and predominantly identifies with Orthodoxy…
“Putin’s efforts to restore Russian prestige have included elevating the Russian Orthodox Church…
“Christians on both sides are fighting: ‘Tanks are rolling down from Russia, Russian Orthodox priests are blessing the tanks,’ while ‘Ukrainian Orthodox priests are blessing the Ukrainian soldiers to fight against Russia.’
“… Putin’s demands are also connected with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and its independence from Moscow. De facto what Putin wants is the full capitulation of Ukraine. The capitulation sought is both physical and spiritual. Indeed, Russian control of Ukraine would be a humanitarian disaster and a human rights catastrophe. And the implications for religious freedom in Ukraine would be dire. The U.S. government has ranked Russia as one of the worst in the world for religious freedom at home… Moscow would likely not countenance an independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine, possibly forcing it back into the family of the Russian Orthodox Church. Russia’s regressive treatment of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims and proselytizing groups would likely be forced on the entire country.
“Concerns about Ukraine’s Jewish community also exist. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum condemned Putin’s ‘exploitation’ of the Holocaust as a pretext for war. ‘The Museum stands with the Ukrainian people, including the thousands of Holocaust survivors still living in the country,’ said a statement released Thursday. The Prussian strategist Carl von Clausewitz said, ‘War is the continuation of politics by other means.’ War was probably the only outcome Putin wanted. The implications for Ukrainian religious freedom and other human rights, however, hang in the balance…”
The New York Post wrote on February 25:
“‘Following a telephone conversation President Biden held with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and in alignment with the decision by our European allies, the United States will join them in sanctioning President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov and members of the Russian national security team,’ White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday…
“Slapping sanctions on individuals entails preventing them from travel to and from certain jurisdictions. [It is unclear whether the new sanctions include a travel ban for Putin and Lavrov. While Europe says no, the USA seems to imply yes, but the statements in that regard are anything but clear]. It also bans companies from engaging in any sort of transaction with those persons… Putin’s assets, which are believed to be most vast than any human in the world, are hidden from view. Putin doesn’t need to hold his assets in traditional institutions like banks or brokerage firms because the entire Russian economy — with its significant oil and natural gas stockpiles as well as its rich array of natural resources – is under his control.
“The president’s inner circle is comprised of oligarchs who are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The vast net worth of these cronies, who hide their wealth in offshore tax havens, suggests that Putin is far more richer than he is letting on… Putin’s net worth rivals those of the richest people in the world.”
The Associated Press wrote on February 27:
“There is a glaring carve-out in President Joe Biden’s sanctions against Russia: Oil and natural gas from that country will continue to flow freely to the rest of the world and money will keep flowing into Russia…
“‘Energy exports are the whole game,’ said Columbia University historian Adam Tooze… ‘I don’t think Russia is blind to what is going on and it must indicate to them that the West does not really have the stomach for a painful fight over Ukraine.’…
“This dependence on Russia could limit the potential devastation of sanctions… Should there be a loss of oil and natural gas from Russia, the U.S. appears unable to quickly increase production of oil and natural gas, while OPEC-plus countries have yet to publicly commit to substantially more production.”
The USA had been gas- and oil-independent. But the Biden Administration changed all of that.
Deutsche Welle reported on February 27:
“On Saturday, the German government announced its decision to provide 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 surface-to-air missiles from German military stocks to Ukraine as soon as possible. Additionally, Estonia and the Netherlands received permission from the German government to transfer German-made weapons to Ukraine, whereas previously such permission had been denied. The moves reverse Germany’s long-standing principle of not sending or selling weapons to conflict areas…
“In announcing the policy reversal on Saturday, Scholz said that the ‘Russian invasion of Ukraine marks a turning point. It threatens our entire post-war order. In this situation, it is our duty to support Ukraine to the best of our ability in its defense against Vladimir Putin’s invading army.’…
“Scholz said the German government would allocate €100 billion for extra German armed forces, the Bundeswehr, in the 2022 budget. ‘From now on, more than 2% of our GDP will be invested in our defense,’ Scholz said. Germany has previously been criticized for devoting less than the 2% mark on defense spending called for by NATO agreements…
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed Germany’s change of heart. On Twitter, he wrote, ‘Keep up the good work, Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Anti-war coalition in action!’ Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, told Germany’s DPA news agency: ‘We are glad that Germany has finally made this 180-degree turnaround.’ Melnyk also told German newspaper Die Welt that Ukraine expects ‘this is only Germany’s first step.’… Melnyk said he hopes that as the Russian invasion rumbles on, the German government will provide additional defensive weapons so Ukraine can protect itself.”
Germany did send and sell weapons to other conflict areas before. Scholz’s statements are just false and hypocritical.
The Local wrote on February 25:
“The German government on Thursday pledged to boost military spending…
“Finance Minister Christian Lindner said it was time for a ‘turning point’ in German defence investment… ‘I worry that we have neglected the armed forces so much in the past that it can’t completely fulfil its duties,’ he told public television.
“… the chief of the German land army, Alfons Mais,… said it was high time to bolster the army…
“Germany’s dark past has nurtured a strong pacifist tradition… Russia’s invasion may well force changes in priorities, with the Bundestag’s armed forces commissioner Eva Hoegl saying the army may have to switch from focusing on foreign missions to ‘domestic and allied (NATO) defence.’”
Die Welt wrote on February 26:
“In view of Russia’s military aggression, there is a first call for a return to conscription in Germany, which has been suspended since 2011…”
Express wrote on February 27:
“European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced unprecedented EU sanctions against Russia and Belarus this afternoon. She announced an immediate shut down of EU airspace to all Russian planes [including private jets] and confirmed that the EU will finance weaponry for another country [under attack] for the first time ever. This will see the EU purchase and finance weapons to Ukraine… The bloc is also moving to ban ‘the Kremlin’s media machine in the EU’. This means that the state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik, ‘will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin’s war’…
“The move follows the joint decision yesterday from the US, UK, EU and Canada to block Swift access for some Russian banks [for international payments]… Ms von der Leyen said: ‘The European Union and its partners are working to cripple Putin’s ability to finance his war machine.’”
Scholz had stubbornly refused to agree to block Russian banks to Swift access. Finally, he relented and “agreed.” Another “change of heart” or just bowing to pressure?
Die Welt had written on February 26:
“Chancellor Olaf Scholz has encountered resistance within his own party with his no to Russia’s exclusion from the Swift banking communications network… At the EU summit on Thursday, Germany rejected such a move. Italy, Austria, Hungary and Cyprus have also been counted among the opponents so far. However, Italy, Austria and Cyprus have now given up resistance…”
Subsequently, Politico wrote on February 26:
“The decision was an abrupt change in course, coming after Berlin clung to its initial position for weeks despite the rising Russian menace and pressure from EU and NATO allies. On Saturday, Berlin finally bowed to that pressure, and to the reality that Russia is encircling Ukrainian cities and threatening to topple the government in Kyiv…. Yet Berlin’s changing stance does not necessarily mean all requests for arms shipments will be approved, as each case is decided individually… Before Saturday’s turnaround, senior Ukrainian officials had been complaining bitterly for weeks about Germany’s refusal to allow arms shipments to bolster Ukraine’s defenses. That stance bewildered some European officials…”
Deutsche Welle wrote on February 27:
“It was a powerful speech on Ukraine that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz delivered in the Bundestag. It was clear that it’s the end of ifs and buts, as well as the politics of hesitant little steps… Germany’s coalition government has taken a clear stance against Russia the aggressor. Finally, NATO allies, in particular the Baltic states, know where they stand with Germany…
“Frankly: It’s about time. For too long, Germany has only engaged in political maneuvering and discussions. However… reconciliation between Germany and Russia remains a historically important building block of German politics, as Scholz stressed…
“But let’s not fool ourselves. This new era in Germany will be expensive, possibly even painful… Russia is set to be isolated from the world economy. High energy prices, supply bottlenecks and a partial collapse in the trade of raw materials may well be the immediate consequences.
“Germans will have to prepare themselves. The government must quickly show how the country is supposed to deal with this and what the consequences will be… It is right that Germany is finally supporting shutting Russian banks out of… SWIFT… But here too the consequences need to be clearly communicated. It’s quite possible that the flow of Russian gas to Germany will stop, because without SWIFT it won’t be possible to pay for it. Retaliation, as popular and as correct as it may be, comes at a price..
“For the Ukrainian people, holding their ground against the Russian aggressor, this complete change in German politics is meaningful… For far too long it has been entirely unclear where Germany stood. Now everyone knows. At last.”
Express wrote on February 27:
“Thousands [of Russians] are said to be trying to reach the United States to claim political asylum and avoid being forced to fight in the war with Ukraine… The Russian government has already called up conscripts and reservists aged between 18 and 60… many Russians have openly opposed the war, with many saying the battle is ‘not wanted’ by the people of Russia. Thousands of people joined demonstrations across Russia last week to protest against the invasion of Ukraine… The [Russian] government crackdown on protesters has been swift and ruthless, with more than 1500 people arrested on Thursday night alone…
“Legal routes to the US for Russians have dwindled in recent years. The pandemic limited travel between the countries and took a toll on consular services, making it difficult for Russians to get a visa… This has left Russian people who want to reach the US little choice but to take the route from Mexico…
“Record numbers of Russian citizens have already been crossing into the US from Mexico to claim political asylum in recent months… in response to Putin’s increasingly brutal crackdown on opposition…
“Increasing numbers of Ukrainians have also been fleeing to America in recent months via the same route, taking long and expensive journeys in search of safety while the threat of Russia has grown larger.”
Thomson/Reuters wrote on February 27:
“The European Union needs to prepare for millions of Ukrainian refugees arriving in the bloc…”
The Sun wrote on February 28:
“A RUN on Russian banks has begun as Western sanctions send the ruble into freefall, sparking hopes of civil unrest against Vladimir Putin. Pictures show long queues outside cash machines in St Petersburg as locals race against time to withdraw their life savings before it’s all wiped out. It comes as Russia’s central bank says it will not open the Moscow Stock Exchange today…
“Russia’s central bank hiked interest rates from 9.5 percent to over 20 percent in a bid to stop a run on the country’s currency, the ruble… the value of the ruble continues to tumble against the dollar and euro on the Moscow Stock Exchange on Monday… Russia’s economy shrank by 30 per cent overnight to an all-time low.
“Russia is believed to be spending as much as £15billion a day to fund the invasion of Ukraine, experts believe…
“More than 2,000 people were arrested at peaceful anti-war protests in Russia on Sunday while more than 5,500 people have been detained at other protests since the invasion began on Thursday… Russian celebrities, dignitaries and officials also joined calls for the attack to be halted last night. More than 150 municipal deputies… from various Russian cities wrote in an open letter: ‘We, the deputies elected by the people, unreservedly condemn the attack of the Russian army on Ukraine. This is an unparalleled atrocity for which there is and cannot be justification.’”
LifeSiteNews wrote on February 25:
“A large German health insurer has raised concerns over what its data shows to be an excessive underreporting by government authorities of adverse events after experimental COVID-19 gene-based vaccine injections…. Explaining that their sample includes 10,937,716 insured clients, with available data covering only the first 7½ months of 2021, their company had already logged 216,695 cases of adverse reactions for COVID-19 gene-based injections.
“Extending this rate for the full year, and then applying it to the full population of Germany (around 83 million), one can estimate that likely 2.5 million to 3 million individuals in the nation were treated by medical professionals for such adverse events.”
LifeSiteNews reported on March 1:
“Fully 66% of Israelis surveyed say they had adverse reactions to a COVID-19 booster jab… The adverse events ranged from mild to serious. Altogether, 66% of interviewees reported at least one adverse reaction. Nearly half of these reported having difficulties performing daily activities as a result… A March analysis also revealed dramatic rates of vaccine-related deaths in the country.”
Breitbart wrote on February 27:
“A strong majority of adults in the United States believe President Joe Biden is mentally unfit to serve as commander in chief, according to a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll. The poll, which was released only days before the president is slated to give the State of the Union address, showed a majority believe Biden is unfit to serve as president while also revealing the lowest job approval rating (37 percent)…”
The New York Post wrote on March 1:
“Kamala Harris just took dumbing down to a whole new level. During an appearance on the syndicated ‘Morning Hustle’ radio program, Harris was asked by co-host Headkrack to explain the conflict ‘in layman’s terms for people who don’t understand what’s going on and how can this directly affect the people of the United States?’
“Speaking slowly, Harris began, ‘So, Ukraine is a country in Europe.’ ‘It exists next to another country called Russia,’ she continued. ‘Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine. So, basically, that’s wrong, and it goes against everything that we stand for.’…
“Washington Examiner executive editor Seth Mandel described Harris’ statement as ‘terrifying.’ ‘She just has a real inability to talk normally to [people],” Mandel noted… ‘Apparently Vice President Kamala Harris believes the average American layperson is aged 4,’ seethed The Federalist publisher Ben Domenech. ‘You will hear higher levels of explanation of international affairs in Peppa Pig.’…
“This is not the first time Harris’ grasp of foreign policy had been called into question. While meeting with reporters at the Munich Security Conference in Germany last month, the [vice president] was criticized for stating that Europe had enjoyed ‘peace and security’ since the end of World War II, apparently forgetting Soviet incursions into Hungary and Czechoslovakia during the Cold War, the Balkan civil wars of the 1990s and Russia’s campaigns in Chechnya, Georgia and Ukraine under President Vladimir Putin.”
When we consider the current leadership of the USA, it is indeed a frightening scenario.
Breitbart wrote on February 25:
“President Joe Biden nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson to fill retiring Justice Stephen Breyer’s seat on the Supreme Court, but conservative groups are warning of Jackson’s ‘radical, left-wing activism’…
“National pro-life organization Susan B. Anthony’s List (SBA List) noted her pro-abortion bona fides. ‘Joe Biden is fulfilling his promise to only appoint justices who support the Roe v. Wade regime of abortion on demand up to birth – a policy so extreme only a handful of countries in the world hold it, including North Korea and China. Ketanji Brown Jackson is backed by many of America’s most radical pro-abortion groups… She is on record opposing the free speech rights of pro-life advocates pleading to save lives outside abortion centers and supporting the false claim that abortion is ‘health care.’ We have no doubt she will work with the most pro-abortion administration in history to enshrine abortion on demand nationwide in the law… The overwhelming majority of Americans reject the Democrats’ extreme agenda that includes late-term abortions when unborn children can feel pain, dismemberment abortions, lethal discrimination abortions, and more.’
“Similarly, CatholicVote is sounding the alarm on Jackson’s propensity to oppose free religious expression, defying the First Amendment. ‘Judge Jackson is the choice of the radical Left. By all indications, she will be a rubber stamp for Left-wing judicial activism that will continue to punish and penalize Catholic beliefs in the public square… Judge Jackson has been nominated because she is expected to use the Court to reward the far Left with support for policies that a majority of the country opposes. When judges become legislators, among those that stand to lose the most are Catholic hospitals, schools, charities and families.’
“Terry Schilling of the American Principles Project had a similar sentiment, saying ‘Not a huge surprise — Biden just picked the most extreme left-wing SCOTUS nominee in our nation’s history… She’ll become the most predictable vote on the court — pro abortion, pro gender ideology, everything.’”
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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.
