Annexation of West Bank before Election in November?

Breaking Israel News wrote on August 23:

“Having been Director of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus since its inception in 2004, Joshua Reinstein is intimately familiar with the political connection that binds American evangelicals with Israel. As such, he believes that the key to the next election lies in this US-Holy Land connection… ‘The base of the Republican party are Bible-believing Christians… And the number one issue that will do that is the declaration of sovereignty in the Biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria…

“‘I think that Donald [Trump] will announce American support of sovereignty over Judea and Samaria before the election. Like Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo said in June, Trump will probably declare that the choice of whether or not to declare sovereignty lies with Israel and his administration will support whatever Israel decides.’”

This would be an interesting development, especially in light of the turmoil the evangelical world in the USA is presently going through. Notice just one example—namely, the most recent developments and direct or indirect sexual allegations pertaining to Trump supporter Jerry Falwell Jr., “one of the most influential figures in the American Christian conservative movement” (Reuters), and his resignation from the Liberty University, “the Christian school he has run since 2007.”

Peace Deal between Israel, UAE and USA Already Shaky?

JTA wrote on August 24:

“Not all is rosy with the United Arab Emirates and Israel in the aftermath of their peace accord. The UAE canceled a public meeting with the United States and Israel meant to celebrate the so-called Abraham Accords over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s public opposition to the U.S. sale of F-35 advanced fighter jets to the Arab nation.

“Senior UAE officials wanted to send a message to Israel that they were disappointed with Netanyahu’s public statements on the sale of the F-35s… Ambassadors from the three countries were scheduled to meet Friday at the United Nations. The Emirates also will hold no other public political meetings with the two countries until Israel’s position on such a sale is ‘clarified’…

“White House senior adviser Jared Kushner said Sunday… that the peace agreement between Israel and the UAE ‘should increase the probability’ of an F-35 jet sale to the Emirates.”

These plans are so counterproductive and dangerous for Israel. This peace agreement will turn out to be a total flop. At the same time, the “appearance” of a workable agreement might linger on for a short while to bring about other important developments.

Breaking Israel News wrote on August 25:

“Rabbi Yehudah Glick, a former Likud Member of Knesset… noted that… the First Temple was built during a period of peace following a long period of war… Rabbi Glick noted that just like King Solomon made peace agreements with King Hiram of Tyre (known today as Lebanon) and with the Queen of Sheba, the current efforts to pursue peace include Lebanon and African nations.”

It will have to be seen how the building of the Third Temple on the Temple Mount will come about. Our Q&A in this issue describes some possible scenarios.

Erdogan Condemned by US State Department

The Algemeiner wrote on August 25:

“The US State Department slammed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday for his meeting last weekend with two leaders of the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas — one of whom is the subject of a $5 million bounty for his part in the murder of an American-Jewish teenager. ‘The United States strongly objects to Turkish President Erdogan hosting two Hamas leaders in Istanbul on August 22,’ State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.

“‘Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by the US and EU and both officials hosted by President Erdogan are Specially Designated Global Terrorists’… Ortagus made clear that the State Department would keep monitoring Erdogan’s interactions with Hamas leaders with concern…  ‘We continue to raise our concerns about the Turkish government’s relationship with Hamas at the highest levels. This is the second time President Erdogan has welcomed Hamas leadership to Turkey this year with the first meeting occurring February 1.’

“The State Department’s official condemnation of Erdogan came one day after President Donald Trump briefly discussed his positive personal relationship with the Turkish leader at the Republican National Convention.”

Turkey will fulfill a despicable prophesied role of violence and manslaughter against “Israel.”

Hurricane Laura Hits Louisiana

 The Week wrote on August 27:

“Hurricane Laura made landfall in southwestern Louisiana as an ‘extremely dangerous’ Category 4 storm early Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said, and had slowed to a Category 2 hurricane hours later… Laura brought an 11-foot storm surge to some areas, and flooding started along the Louisiana coast on Wednesday afternoon… Earlier this week, Laura killed 20 people in Haiti and three in the Dominican Republic.”

The Associated Press reported on August 27:

“One of the strongest hurricanes ever to strike the U.S. pounded the Gulf Coast… Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards… called it the most powerful hurricane to strike Louisiana, meaning it surpassed even Katrina, which was a Category 3 storm when it hit in 2005. The hurricane’s top wind speed of 150 mph (241 kph) put it among the most powerful systems on record in the U.S…

“More than 580,000 coastal residents were ordered to join the largest evacuation since the pandemic began and many did, filling hotels and sleeping in cars… More than 700,000 homes and businesses remained without power in Texas and Louisiana…

 “[Laura] was the seventh named storm to strike the U.S. this year, setting a new record for U.S. landfalls by the end of August. The old record was six in 1886 and 1916… Laura was tied with five other storms for fifth most powerful U.S. hurricane, behind the 1935’s Labor Day storm, 1969’s Camille, 1992’s Andrew and 2004’s Charley…”

More Racial Unrest in the USA

The Associated Press reported on August 25:

“The father of a Black man who was shot, apparently in the back, by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, says his son was left paralyzed from the waist down. Jacob Blake’s father told the Chicago Sun-Times that he was told his son was shot eight times during the Sunday evening confrontation with police, which was captured on cellphone video and led to two nights of unrest in the city between Milwaukee and Chicago… [The] doctors don’t know if the paralysis will be permanent.

“Anger over the shooting of a Black man by police spilled into the streets of Kenosha for a second night Monday, with police again firing tear gas at hundreds of protesters who defied a curfew, threw bottles and shot fireworks at law enforcement guarding the courthouse. The southeastern Wisconsin city became the nation’s latest flashpoint in a summer of racial unrest after cellphone footage of police shooting Blake — apparently in the back as he leaned into his SUV while his three children sat in the vehicle — circulated widely on social media…

“Police in the former auto manufacturing center of 100,000 people midway between Milwaukee and Chicago said they were responding to a call about a domestic dispute when they encountered Blake on Sunday. They did not say whether Blake was armed or why police opened fire, they released no details on the dispute, and they did not immediately disclose the race of the three officers at the scene.

“The man who said he made the cellphone video… said he saw Blake scuffling with three officers and heard them yell, ‘Drop the knife! Drop the knife!’ before the gunfire erupted. He said he didn’t see a knife in Blake’s hands. The governor said he has seen no information to suggest Blake had a knife or other weapon, but that the case is still being investigated by the state Justice Department…

“Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said the officers ‘must be held accountable.’… Republicans and the police union accused the politicians of rushing to judgment, reflecting the deep partisan divide in Wisconsin, a key presidential battleground state. Wisconsin GOP members also decried the violent protests…

“In the footage, Blake walks from the sidewalk around the front of his SUV to his driver-side door as officers follow him with their guns pointed and shout at him. As Blake opens the door and leans into the SUV, an officer grabs his shirt from behind and opens fire while Blake has his back turned. Seven shots can be heard, though it isn’t clear how many struck Blake or how many officers fired…

“Blake’s grandfather, Jacob Blake Sr., was a prominent minister and civil rights leader in the Chicago area who helped organize a march and spoke in support of a comprehensive housing law in Evanston, Illinois, days after the 1968 slaying of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr….

“Online court records indicate Kenosha County prosecutors charged Blake on July 6 with sexual assault, trespassing and disorderly conduct in connection with domestic abuse. An arrest warrant was issued the following day… It was unclear whether that case had anything to do with the shooting.”

Whatever the Truth may be, this is just another example of the fragile domestic situation within the USA. Any spark can now cause an explosion. And radical “protestors” use any opportunity to spread their violence.

Deutsche Welle added on August 26:

“Two people were killed and another injured in Kenosha, Wisconsin, local police confirmed Wednesday, after gunfire broke out on the third night of unrest… An 8 p.m. curfew is in effect in the city. Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has declared a state of emergency and doubled the deployment of National Guard forces in Kenosha from 125 to 250. Police and protesters also clashed in Portland, Oregon, and Louisville, Kentucky, on Tuesday night.”

Ongoing Violence in Portland, Oregon

The Los Angeles Times wrote on August 24:

“It has become a dangerous nightly ritual in Portland. Around 11 p.m., protesters set fire to trash cans or toss burning cardboard into police buildings and hurl bottles, eggs and chunks of concrete at officers. Then police broadcast an order for the demonstrators to leave. Most do. But a hardcore group, sometimes numbering in the hundreds, remain to face off against police, who use tear gas, rubber bullets, flash grenades and arrests to clear the streets…

“As of last week, protesters had set 41 fires, thrown projectiles at police officers on at least 58 nights and vandalized property on 49 nights, according to the police department, which has declared riots 17 times…

“[The police department said that officers] ‘have been the focus of over 80 days of violent actions directed at the police…”

Breitbart wrote on August 26:

“Democrat Gov. Kate Brown may release as many as 400 prisoners from state jails for fear of the coronavirus spreading at the same time violent Antifa riots are taking place nightly in Portland….

“Brown’s concern for prisoners seems in stark contrast to the reality of her state’s second largest city facing nightly riots that have resulted in ongoing injuries to police officers and the destruction of innocent people’s property. And large crowds gathering every night also pose the risk of spreading the virus.”

Words fail. And what is Portland doing about it?

USA Withdraws Troops from Germany

Fox News wrote on August 23:

“President Trump recently ordered a 12,000-troop reduction in American military personnel stationed in Germany. That leaves about 24,000 American soldiers still in the country. A little more than half of the troops being withdrawn will return home. The rest will be redeployed to other NATO member nations such as Belgium, Italy, and perhaps Baltic and Eastern European countries. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is said to be furious.

“… the Merkel government has concluded, over American objections, a huge natural gas deal with Russia… Merkel likes to lecture the world on moral issues, but what is so noble about empowering Russian President Vladimir Putin, who recently reclaimed Crimea and seems now to be eyeing Belarus? Like a modern-day Byzantine emperor Justinian, who recovered much of the lost Western Roman Empire, Putin seems to think he can reabsorb the lost Soviet republics.

“In recent polling, Germans were more anti-American than any other nation in Europe. And while about 75 percent of Americans believe the U.S. still has a good relationship with Germany, only about a third of Germans feel that way about the U.S. Nearly half the German population in some polls want U.S. troops out…

“Does Merkel really believe that if her nation cuts huge deals with NATO’s historically greatest threat, polls as the most anti-American country in Europe and still refuses to honor its promises to increase defense spending, Germany still deserves a large American commitment of 36,000 troops to anchor its defense?…

“According to its founders, NATO was created for three reasons: to keep the always aggressive Russians ‘out’ of Europe, to keep the often isolationist Americans ‘in’ to help protect it, and to keep the supposedly restless Germans ‘down’ in order to avoid a replay of their invasions that ignited both world wars. In other words, the huge defense commitment to an often ungracious Germany over eight decades was not just envisioned to create a central base from which to protect Europe from ancient Russian ambitions, but also to remind Germany itself of its checkered past. That third mission… is not entirely forgotten, and it may explain why many in Europe — and some in Germany itself — are worried when any American soldiers leave Germany.”

All of this is leading to a revival of Germany’s ambitions to build a strong European Army. It also leads to further alienation between the USA and Germany. Germany hopes that Biden will become the next US President, thinking that under him, the relationship might become better again. Whether that hope would be justified or not, the Truth is that Biden will not replace Trump. Please view our recent StandingWatch program, “Why Trump Will Stay in Office!”

Germany Helps to Finance Hungarian Army

Israel Defense wrote on August 20:

“… the Hungarian government signed an agreement for a joint venture with the German company Rheinmetall, under which a production facility will be set up in Hungary to manufacture the most modern Lynx infantry fighting vehicle (IFV). The joint venture is part of a massive programme worth over two billion euros to modernize the East-European country’s defense industry and military capabilities…

“The step is of central importance in Hungary’s ongoing programme of military and industrial development, which aims to transform the Hungarian Army as quickly as possible into a world-class fighting force capable of actively addressing security challenges in the Euro-Atlantic region…”

And so, Germany is getting more and more involved in European military matters and affairs.

Britain’s New Passport—as Dark as Midnight

On August 24, the Guardian published the following opinion piece by Guardian columnist Zoe Williams:

“[My new passport] arrived today, as blue as midnight and also as dark.

“We definitely are not in the EU any more. There are no stars, just a lion, a unicorn and a peculiar and bereft illustration of the UK, with Northern Ireland a floating blob, the rest of the landmass etched out like Trotsky’s face…

“The flowers and a shamrock are embossed on the back… except the daffodil could be any flower, and the overall effect is of someone finding free graphics on the internet for a superbly boring PowerPoint presentation.”

Does this mirror the fate of the UK?

Corona Forever

The Sun wrote on August 22:

“[The] CORONAVIRUS will be in Britain FOREVER and people will need regular [repeated] vaccinations, a former chief scientific adviser [Professor Sir Mark Walport] has warned today… And he said the pandemic will be controlled by ‘global vaccination’ but that it is not ‘going to be a disease like smallpox which could be eradicated by vaccination’.

“His warning comes after the WHO chief said the deadly bug could last for another two years.”

In Corona Times… How the Rich Get Richer…

Fox News wrote on August 21:

“California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been drawing his full monthly salary despite asking state workers in May to take a pay cut to alleviate the state’s burden in fighting the coronavirus pandemic. Though elected state officials are exempt from such pay cuts, Newsom pledged that he would voluntarily slash his salary when he asked state workers to make that same sacrifice. But a Thursday report… revealed that Newsom has continued drawing his full monthly salary… A spokesman for Newsom’s office blamed the matter on an ‘administrative error.’… ‘The reductions for both July and August will be deduced for the next pay period.’…

“PlumpJack, a Northern California-based winery and hospitality company, founded and partly owned by Newsom, was open through early July – well after Newsom ordered all essential business closed in March. Data released by the U.S. Treasury Department also shows that the wine company also received a loan worth $150,000 to $350,000 from the Paycheck Protection Program…”

Jens Spahn’s Further Dictatorial Restrictions

The Associated Press added on August 26:

“People coming home from coronavirus risk areas were offered free tests at airports, train stations and highway stops, allowing them to cut short the required two-week quarantine if their result came back negative. Travelers returning from high-risk areas, which include most countries outside the European Union and some regions inside the bloc, will in the future be required to go into mandatory quarantines for at least five days before taking a test, which may no longer be free unless ordered by a doctor… The change in the country’s testing strategy is also due to Germany’s labs reaching the limits of their capacities, [Health Minister Jens] Spahn said.

“The operators of Frankfurt Airport, Germany’s biggest, criticized the decision to focus on quarantining, rather than testing travelers. Stefan Schulte, the chief executive of Fraport, said the move amounted to a second lockdown for the airline and travel industries. He called on the government to instead improve the existing system of testing travelers from high-risk areas rather than to dismantled it again.”

Until recently, according to an article by Deutsche Welle, dated August 24, “93% of the population thought the measure [of testing and mandatory quarantine] was a reasonable demand to impose.”

However, the mood is changing in Germany. Bild Online wrote on August 25 that the harsh restrictions of the German government do not find acceptance by most Germans. “This is no miracle… It will be difficult to get the approval of the German population for a second lockdown.”

In a related article, Bild Online wrote on August 26: “The confusion is complete and so is the anger of the German citizens. Again new rules, and nobody can figure them out…”

The paper also quoted Jens Spahn as saying that the new rule is mandatory and will be enforced, and those who don’t obey are violating the criminal law.  

New Governmental Restrictions in Germany… and Merkel’s Failure to Unite

 Deutsche Welle wrote on August 27:

 “Chancellor Angela Merkel and Germany’s 16 regional leaders have agreed to ban major public gatherings and impose a national fine for mask shirkers… measures include a minimum fine of €50 ($60) for anyone caught not wearing a mask in shops and on public transport. There was no agreement on limiting the number of participants for private events. Instead, Merkel and the regional leaders asked Germans to ‘critically weigh’ in each individual case whether private celebrations are ‘necessary’ and ‘justifiable.’…

 “Merkel and the regional leaders stressed on Thursday that  ‘covering the mouth and nose in certain public areas is mandatory and must be consistently controlled and sanctioned by public order authorities.’ The return to nationwide decisions also marks a political shift in Germany… 

“The new nationwide measures are already proving controversial.  Whereas some politicians believe consistency is necessary to avoid a confusing patchwork of decisions, others say blanket measures disproportionately affect states with a low coronavirus incidence… Reiner Haseloff of Saxony Anhalt, which registered 16 new cases on Wednesday, has already indicated mask fines will not be implemented in his region… There was no decision on whether to give the green light for Germany’s beloved Christmas markets to operate.”

Berlin Prohibits Demonstrations against Corona Measures

The Associated Press reported on August 26:

“… in Berlin authorities banned several protests planned for the weekend against coronavirus pandemic measures. Officials said that those protesting would likely have breached rules on social distancing designed to stop the spread of the virus.… Berlin’s top security official, Andreas Geisel, welcomed the decision… Geisel said police would act to stop any large gathering of people and indicated that authorities wouldn’t tolerate a tent camp that protesters have erected near the German parliament. ‘I’m not prepared to accept that Berlin is abused a second time as a stage for corona deniers … and right-wing extremists,’ he said.

“Numerous leading figures in the country’s far-right scene, including members of the Alternative for Germany party, had announced they would participate in rallies in Berlin on Saturday. The party’s leader in the Berlin state assembly, Georg Pazderski, criticized the decision to ban the protests, calling it disproportionate and unjustified.”

The reaction of Bild Online to the prohibition was fierce and unusually condemnatory: “This is an unacceptable attack on one of our most important constitutional rights… and political insanity which could hardly be topped…”

Ban on Non-Israelis

JTA wrote on August 24:

“Non-Israeli passport holders who do not come from countries with low coronavirus infection rates will be banned from entering the country until at least Oct. 1. The United States is among those not on the so-called green list of countries with low rates.

“Among non-citizens who can enter the country are nuclear family members of Israelis having lifecycle events such as births and weddings. In addition, thousands of… students have entered Israel in recent days for the start of the school year.

“All Israelis and non-citizens entering the country must go into a two-week isolation, except those that arrive from countries on the so-called green list. That list includes the United Kingdom, Canada, Italy and Germany….”

Equally nonsensical and contradictory measures.

Crazy Global Government Restrictions Because of Fear

The American Institute for Economic Research wrote on or about August 24:

“A mystery for months is how it is that so many governments in so many different places on earth could have adopted the same or very similar preposterous policies, no matter the threat level of the virus, and without firm evidence that interventions had any hope of being effective. In the course of two weeks, traditional freedoms were zapped away in nearly all developed countries. In a seriously bizarre twist, even the silliest policies replicated themselves like a virus in country after country.

“For example, you can’t try on clothing in a store in Texas or in Melbourne, or in London or in Kalamazoo. What’s with that? We know that the COVID bug is least likely to live on fabrics unless I have symptoms of it, sneeze on my handkerchief and then I stuff it in your mouth. The whole thing is a ridiculous mysophobic overreach, like most of the rules under which we live.

“Then there was the inside/outside confusion. First everyone was forced indoors and people were arrested for being outdoors. Later, once restaurants started opening, people were not allowed indoors so eating establishments scrambled to make outdoor dining possible. Are we supposed to believe that the virus lived outside for a while but then later moved inside?

“Or these curfews. So many places have them despite a complete absence of evidence that COVID spread prefers the night to the day. I guess the real point is to put a stop to revelry that might bring people together in a fun way? It’s like all our governments decided on the same day that COVID spreads through smiles and fun, so we have to banish both.

“In Sydney and Los Angeles, and also in Detroit and Miami, you need to wear a mask when you walk in a restaurant but not when you sit. And this 6-foot rule is highly suspect too. It seems to imply that if you get too close to each other, COVID spontaneously appears. At least people seem to believe that…

“In most places too, you have to quarantine two weeks when you arrive from afar, even though it is rare that the virus incubation period is that long…  Oh, and in department stores, you can’t spray perfume to try it out, because surely that spreads COVID – not. Except that there is not one shred of evidence that there is any truth to this. This one seems completely made up, though it is widely imposed.

“The list goes on. The bans of gatherings over 50 outdoors and 25 indoors, the closures of gyms at a time when people need to be getting healthy, the shutting of theaters and bowling alleys but the keeping open of big-box stores – these policies are as ubiquitous as they are unsupported by any science. And we’ve known this for many months…

“The worst case is school closings. They were shut down at the same time all over the world, despite evidence available since at least January that the threat to children is nearly zero. Yes, they do get COVID almost entirely asymptomatically, which is to say they do not get ‘sick’ in the old-fashioned sense of that term. What’s more, they are highly unlikely to spread it to adults precisely because they do not have symptoms… Still governments decided to wreck kids’ lives for an entire season.

“And the timing of it all seems strangely suspicious. All these countries and states implemented this compulsory clown show at the same time, whether cases were everywhere or nowhere.  In the US, this was fascinating to watch. The shutdowns happened all over the country. In the Northeast, the virus had already spread widely toward herd immunity. The South shut down at the same time but the virus wasn’t even there. By the time the virus did arrive, most states in the South had already reopened…

“How can so many governments in the world have simultaneously lost their marbles and abolished the people’s liberties in such a cruel way, while trampling on all rights of property and association? I tend to resist big conspiracy theories on this subject simply because I seriously doubt that governments are smart enough to implement them. From what I can see, these governors and statesmen seem to be making things up in a crazy panic and then sticking with them just to pretend that they know what they are doing… But how can we account for the imposition of so many similarly ridiculous rules at the same time across so many parts of the globe?…

“Why did so many governments go so nuts at once, disregarding their own laws, traditions, and values by bludgeoning their own people with the excuse of science that has turned out to be almost completely bogus? Some people claim conspiracy but a much simpler answer might be that, in their ignorance and stupor, they copied each other out of fear.”

Whether they are acting because of fear or as being part of a conspiracy with secret or not-so-secret talks… the mastermind behind all of this—Satan the Devil—is having a field day…

Non-Gender Awards Show in Berlin

Showbiz411 wrote on August 24:

“Best Actress, Best Actor? No more. At least at the Berlin Film Festival. They’re going non-gender and handing out one acting prize for lead and supporting this winter…

“‘The Berlinale has reorganised the prizes awarded by the International Jury in the Competition. For the first time, the performance awards will be defined in a gender-neutral way. Instead of the awards for the Best Actor and the Best Actress, a ‘Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance’ and a ‘Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance’ shall each be awarded on a gender-neutral basis.’

“So there’s no longer a distinction between men and women, and all the gradations. Will this become the norm now for all awards shows?…”

How much more stupid will it get?

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

The Fragile Middle East Deal

JTA wrote on August 14:

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his plan to annex part of the West Bank ‘remains on the table,’ despite agreeing to suspend the move as part of an agreement to establish formal ties with the United Arab Emirates on Thursday. ‘There is no change in my plan to apply sovereignty, our sovereignty, in Judea and Samaria, in full coordination with the U.S. I’m committed to it, this hasn’t changed. I was the one who put sovereignty in Judea and Samaria on the table. This issue remains on the table,’ Netanyahu said at a news conference in Jerusalem after the agreement was announced. He did note that President Donald Trump asked that ‘Israel wait temporarily’ to move ahead with annexation, Netanyahu said, adding he intends to comply.

“Hours later, Trump said at a news conference in Washington that the plan is ‘off the table.’… David Friedman, his administration’s ambassador to Israel [said:] ‘Yes, the word “suspend” was chosen carefully by all the parties,’ Friedman said. ‘“Suspend,’ by definition, look it up, means temporary halt, it’s off the table now but it’s not off the table permanently.’”

Kushner: We Will Not Allow Israel to Annex West Bank Territory

The Times of Israel wrote on August 17:

“Senior White House official Jared Kushner said Monday that US President Donald Trump would not allow Israel to reverse its pledge to hold off on annexing West Bank territory in exchange for normalizing ties with the United Arab Emirates. ‘President Trump is committed to holding them accountable to it, and Israel has agreed with us that they will not move forward without our consent,’ Kushner told reporters during a briefing. ‘We do not plan to give our consent for some time…’

“Trump referred to the suspension of those plans several times at a press briefing last week, including by saying it was ‘more than just off the table.’”

However, that is apparently not Netanyahu’s understanding. Even between the USA and Israel, there seems to be some friction on the issue. This deal will not bring peace, but it will cause more turmoil and violence.

US Embassy in Jerusalem “for the Evangelicals”

JTA reported on August 18:

“President Donald Trump said he moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem ‘for the evangelicals.’… He was referring to his decision to officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017, and the move of the U.S. Embassy there the following May. While Israel considers Jerusalem its capital, most countries do not recognize the claim and keep their embassies in Tel Aviv.

“‘And the Golan Heights, don’t forget that, we did the Golan Heights. So we’ve done a lot,’ Trump added, referring to his recognition in March 2019 of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed…

“Gallup… says evangelicals have for decades comprised just over 40% of the population. And a 2017 poll commissioned by pro-Israel evangelicals found that the percentage of evangelicals who believe that the establishment of Israel was a fulfillment of prophecy was 80%.”

When the peace deal falls apart—as it will—then Israel might be given a green light to annex West Bank territory.

Israel’s Right Objects

The Times of Israel wrote on August 14:

“Criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the right continued to grow Friday over his agreement to suspend plans to annex West Bank land… Sensing the rising discontent among their settler base, many Likud ministers on Thursday and Friday said it was imperative not to give up on annexation.

“On Friday, Settlement Affairs Minister Tzachi Hanegbi told Army Radio Israel had not given up on its sovereignty bid, saying ‘Of course it will take place’ and repeating Netanyahu’s assertion that the shelving of the plan was only temporary. Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said annexation ‘is no less important to the people of Israel’ than the accord with the UAE. Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz told Kan Bet he understood the disappointment felt by some, but argued annexation ‘is not off the table’…

“Smotrich, who until recently was transportation minister under Netanyahu, acknowledged in a Facebook post that the prime minister is ‘a magician’ — a moniker many of the premier’s supporters, as well as political analysts, have attached to him over the years. But, he added, the main talent of magicians is ‘deception,’ and Netanyahu had repeatedly hoodwinked the country’s right wing. ‘Netanyahu has deceived right-wing voters for years with great success…’ Smotrich argued…

“Former MK Aryeh Eldad, who was one of the founders of what eventually became far-right party Otzma Yehudit, said Netanyahu ‘has sold out the Land of Israel… for “peace” with the UAE, as if there were ever war between us.’…”

These are harsh words, and Netanyahu knows that he needs the support of the right.

Over 600,000 Settlers Say Netanyahu Betrayed Them

 Reuters wrote on August 19:

 “Israel’s settler leaders say Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defrauded them of their long-held dream of annexing the occupied West Bank as part of the country’s normalisation deal with the United Arab Emirates. Their anger could be a problem for right-wing Netanyahu, whom they accuse of repeatedly floating the idea of annexation only to cave in to international pressure when the terms of the UAE deal required him to walk back his promises…

 “Around 450,000 Jewish settlers now live among 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank, with a further 200,000 settlers in East Jerusalem… the ideological settler leadership has significant political clout, and has long been a bastion of Netanyahu’s support. Aware that he might lose their backing to parties even more hawkish than his own, Netanyahu sought to keep settler hopes alive. But many settler leaders are unconvinced.

 “… the Trump vision of limited Palestinian statehood has created strange bedfellows. The Palestinians say it gives them too little. But for the most hardline Israeli settlers it gives the Palestinians too much. For these settlers, any Palestinian state is anathema.”

 There is no way this peace deal will succeed, and Netanyahu begins to see it now. His political survival is on the line, and he realizes that he needs the support of the right and settlers.

Palestinians and Turkey Object

Breaking Israel News wrote on August 14:

“Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas… spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh called the deal ‘treason,’ saying it must be reversed… The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki announced that following the order of Abbas, its ambassador to the UAE would be recalled.”

The Times of Israel added on August 14:

“The Palestinian Authority issued a scathing statement in response to the move, calling it a ‘betrayal of Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Palestinian cause,’ language clearly aimed at inflaming Arab and Muslim sentiment worldwide.”

Not surprisingly, Hamas and Iran objected to the deal as well. And so did Turkey; see the next article.

The Jerusalem Post wrote on August 14:

“President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey was considering closing its embassy in Abu Dhabi and suspending diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates over its accord to normalize ties with Israel. Erdogan was speaking to reporters in Istanbul after the Turkish Foreign Ministry said history will never forgive the ‘hypocritical behavior’ of the UAE… The Foreign Ministry said the  Palestinian people and administration were right to react strongly against the agreement…”

How to Deal with and Contain Erdogan…

The Guardian wrote on August 16:

“Europe’s harsh public criticism of Lukashenko [see article below] contrasts sharply with its reluctance to openly denounce the latest aggressive machinations in the eastern Mediterranean of another elective dictatorship, that of Turkey’s long-entrenched leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Turkey is a Nato member, key EU trade partner, border gatekeeper and influential actor in Syria and the Near East. Unlike Belarus, it has real strategic importance. Perhaps that explains the awkward silence of many governments, including the UK’s. It does not excuse it…

“Erdoğan hopes to insure Turkey’s position in the Aegean, eastern Mediterranean, Syria and Libya against a change of administration in Washington… Erdoğan maintains a constant state of friction with Israel, partly by supporting Hamas… If all this were not trouble enough, Erdoğan’s lurch to Russia, symbolised by Turkey’s purchase of S-400 surface-to-air missiles, has left Nato members asking whether he can be trusted. The fact that Trump, anxious as always to please Vladimir Putin, failed to insist on Turkey cancelling the deal will not prevent it becoming a major point of contention…

“Head-in-the-sand European leaders must surely realise their Erdoğan problem cannot be ignored, dodged, or downplayed indefinitely in the hope that he will eventually go away. Turkey turning rogue is a very real, immediate and dangerous prospect. Nobody seems to have an Erdoğan containment plan. One is increasingly required.”

US Utterly Fails in Fight against Iran

Zero Hedge wrote on August 15:

“The US bid to extend a UN Security Council total arms embargo on Iran which had been in effect for 13 years… has ended in utter failure late this week… Officially, the final tally was 11 abstentions, two yes and two no votes. After all of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s lobbying through the summer to essentially make permanent an international arms blockade on the Islamic Republic the US had only two votes in favor: its own and that of the Dominican Republic.

“All European members of the P5+1 nuclear deal as expected were abstentions… Just before the Friday evening Security Council announcement of the resolution’s results, Pompeo voiced frustration, saying the council ‘failed today’ in its mission. He previously said it was ‘nuts’ to allow Iran to purchase and import weapons…

“The Trump administration is still vowing that Iran will never be able to buy weapons again, but it will be fighting an uphill battle, relying on its own diplomatic pressures on other nations, including allies, to ensure that’s the case, also with threat of sanctions against international violators.”

Again, the USA stands pretty much alone in the world.

Europe’s “last Dictator” asks Putin for Help… Controversy on the Horizon with the EU?

The Guardian wrote on August 16:

“Tens of thousands of Belarusians have gathered in Minsk for the biggest protest in the country’s history, as an extraordinary week of rising sentiment comes to a close. Seven days after the country’s authoritarian ruler, Alexander Lukashenko, [who has been called the last dictator in Europe, but notice the article on Turkey above] claimed to have secured 80% of the vote in a presidential election, his legitimacy is in tatters and his regime faces its biggest crisis since he came to power 26 years ago. The mood at Sunday’s rally was stoked further by egregious police violence against thousands of protesters earlier in the week…

“The protest came as the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, told Lukashenko in a phone call on Sunday that Moscow stood ready to provide help in accordance with a collective military pact if necessary… Lukashenko addressed a crowd of several thousand supporters in front of the country’s parliament on Sunday. They waved Belarusian flags and cheered as he said he had no intention of giving up the country, and suggested Nato forces were preparing to invade…

“Russia and Belarus are technically part of a ‘union state’, but Lukashenko has resisted closer integration in recent years and proved a tricky partner for Moscow. Putin will, however, still be keen to keep Belarus as a strategic ally and for street protests not win out in yet another neighbouring state…

“Lukashenko’s appeal to Putin, and his threat that those who continue to come out on to the streets would be ‘cannon fodder’, suggest that he is considering a new crackdown. The police and army remain under his control…”

Deutsche Welle added on August 16:

“NATO said it was closely monitoring events in Belarus, but denied a military buildup was underway in eastern Europe… Lukashenko, who has led the former Soviet state for 26 years, denies election fraud. He says foreign interference is to blame for the unrest…

“The European Union says the presidential vote was neither free nor fair, and is preparing to impose sanctions… EU Commission Vice President Josep Borrell praised the protests… French President Emmanuel Macron said the EU should support the anti-government demonstrations in Belarus… German Finance Minister [and vice chancellor] Olaf Scholz described Lukashenko as a ‘dictator’ who had lost the support of his people…”

On August 19, the EU officially rejected the election results in Belarus.

Belarus—a Pro-Russian Country

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 18:

“Anti-government protesters have rallied in Minsk and other cities for more than a week — but they haven’t been waving EU flags. Experts point out that Belarus is a pro-Russia country, even without President Lukashenko. A glance at a map shows the unique geographical situation of Belarus. To the west, the country borders on NATO members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. To the south is neighbor Ukraine, and to the east is Russia. But Belarus is far from being a ‘buffer state,’ said Gustav Gressel of the European Council on Foreign Relations, a pan-European think tank. Belarus isn’t ‘neutral’ like Switzerland, Sweden or Finland, he said — it’s part of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a six-country military alliance dominated by Russia. Created in 2002, the alliance… includes Armenia and three Central Asian republics, alongside Russia and Belarus…

“According to Gressel and other experts, Russia isn’t pinning its hopes on the weakened autocrat, but on the fact that Belarus is and remains a pro-Russia country. They believe the Kremlin wouldn’t mind a change in government, as long as it doesn’t involve an abrupt turn toward the West, the EU or NATO. That doesn’t appear to be the aim of this protest movement. The opposition hasn’t suggested that Belarus join the EU, for instance, making the sanctions that the EU now wants to impose on officials responsible for the post-election crackdown rather counterproductive, Belarus opposition politician Maria Kolesnikova told Germany’s Welt am Sonntag paper…”

There is an interesting connection between Belarus and Ukraine. As we have explained before, Ukrainians are to be viewed as part of the modern Medes who will ultimately be at war with Europe.

Belarus was formerly known as Belorussia or White Russia. Many theories exist as to why it was named this way. The term “White Russians” has also been applied to Ukrainians. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the term “White Russian” described ethnic Russians living in the area between Russia and Poland (today this includes Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia and Moldova).

Ethnic Belarusians make up about four-fifths of the population of Belarus. Being Slavic nations, both Belarus and Ukraine share closely related cultures and are predominantly inhabited by the East Slavic ethnic groups of Belarusians and Ukrainians respectively, along with a few Russians. Today, the two countries share an 891–km border. Belarusians in Ukraine are the second biggest minority after Russians. Unlike many other ethnic groups, Belarusians do not have any particular concentration in the country, but spread out more or less evenly across all regions. There are now Belarusian organizations in major cities like Lviv and Sevastopol in the Crimea.

A notable Ukrainian of Belarusian descent is Viktor Yanukovych, the fourth president of Ukraine. He was removed from office in the 2014 Ukrainian revolution. He currently lives in exile in Russia.

Russian Opposition Leader in Coma Due to Alleged Poisoning

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 20:

“Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was rushed to hospital after a suspected poisoning on Thursday. He was unconscious in intensive care after his airplane made an emergency landing… He later fell into a coma…. ‘We assume that Alexei was poisoned with something mixed with his tea,’ [his spokeswoman] said. ‘That’s the only thing he drank this morning.’… Medical authorities told Interfax news agency that tests had shown he was poisoned with an unidentified psychodysleptic (hallucinogen)… Navalny’s normal doctor told DW that the hospital was refusing to talk to her…

“Navalny spends his time exposing corruption among the Russian elite and has suffered a constant campaign of intimidation and threats. He suffered a similar incident last year where he was also suspected to have been poisoned while in police custody.”

In the past, other Kremlin and Putin critics have been poisoned or otherwise killed. 

The Final Days of Legal Immigration?

Forbes wrote on August 13:

“… since Congress has failed to reach a deal on a COVID-19 stimulus package, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) will proceed with its furlough of about 13,400 employees, or about two-thirds of its workforce, on August 30^th.

“… a shutdown of the immigration system would negatively impact: families, U.S. businesses, educational institutions, medical facilities, and churches. In addition, immigrants who are in the process of becoming naturalized U.S. citizens will not be able to complete the process in time to register to vote, DACA recipients will not be able to renew their benefits, asylum applicants will face increased delays, and businesses will be unable to hire or retain employees. In short, the full magnitude of a halt to immigration caused by budgetary problems has not yet been fully explored and could be quite shocking to America’s economy…

“Danielle Spooner, President of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 119, which represents workers within the USCIS, said, ‘This isn’t only about the 13,400 American families to be laid off during a pandemic – this is yet another thinly veiled attack on the legal immigration system by Trump administration officials like Stephen Miller… By failing to fund this agency, the administration has managed to use the global pandemic to effectively shut down all immigration to the U.S. by the end of the month, hurting thousands of American families and businesses in the process.’

“According to an analysis from the National Foundation for American Policy, immigration policies under Trump have reduced legal immigration by 49 percent… ‘I don’t think I can emphasize enough how large an issue this will be – we’re looking at the final days of legal immigration as we know it in the United States,’ said Ruark Hotopp, a representative for USCIS workers in Nebraska who has spent years assisting American businesses in his role at the USCIS. ‘International students, scientists coming to America to study COVID-19, asylum seekers, workers recruited by American businesses, refugees – we’re talking about millions of people dealing with an immigration system running at 30 percent of the capacity it usually does. Our economy will lose billions in revenue, American businesses will lose access to the workforce they need, and hundreds of thousands of legal immigrants will be thrown into limbo.’”

Apart from the human tragedy of the uncertainty for legal immigrants, the loss of billions of dollars in revenue will only contribute to the economic downfall of the USA.

Trump’s Suggestions

Rolling Stone wrote on August 17:

“With the political world focused on the Democratic convention Monday night, President Trump looked to steal some of the limelight by saying that he will seek a third term if he wins re-election. During a rally in Wisconsin, the president [told] a cheering crowd… that he deserves eight additional years in office because… his campaign was spied on in 2016…”

Mediaite wrote on August 18:

“President Donald Trump claimed on Tuesday that the 2020 presidential election may have to be done again if universal mail-in voting is introduced… ‘You can’t take millions of ballots, send them haphazardly all over the country, or all over a state, and expect it to come out properly… [It is] going to be a disaster the likes of which our country has never seen… It’ll end up being a rigged election or they will never come out with an outcome. They’ll have to do it again, and nobody wants that,’ Trump concluded. ‘And I don’t want that.’”

The Week added on August 17:

“President Trump on Monday blasted his likely presidential challenger former Vice President Joe Biden during a speech in Manakato, Minnesota, saying he’d ‘abolish the American way of life’ en route to turning the U.S. into a ‘very boring socialist country that will go to hell.’ He then had a go at Biden’s running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), for co-sponsoring a ‘socialist takeover of health care.’

“The president also joked the coronavirus pandemic was ‘God testing me’ to rebuild the U.S. economy a second time.’”

Even if it’s meant to be a joke, there are things you do not want to joke about.

Steve Bannon Indicted for Fraud

CBS News reported on August 20:

“Federal prosecutors in New York announced Thursday that Steve Bannon, President Trump’s former White House chief strategist, has been indicted along with three others for allegedly defrauding donors to a $25 million fundraising campaign to build a wall along the southern border… Mr. Trump distanced himself from Bannon on Thursday, telling reporters at the White House that ‘I haven’t been dealing with him for a very long period of time.’ The president also said he disliked the private effort to fund construction of the border wall and believed ‘it was being done for showboating reasons.’…

“Federal prosecutors said donors were repeatedly assured that 100% of the money raised would be used to build the wall, but those claims were false… the Justice Department said the men profited from the fundraising scheme. Bannon allegedly received more than $1 million… which was funneled through a non-profit he controlled and some of which was used to cover his personal expenses… To hide the payments from the fundraising campaign, federal prosecutors said the four men… concealed the money [by] using fake invoices and fraudulent vendor arrangements to ensure the scheme remained confidential… the men learned We Build the Wall was under federal criminal investigation in October 2019 and ‘thereafter took additional steps to conceal the fraudulent scheme.’ Each of the four are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, federal prosecutors said. Each carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.”

Biden and Harris Not Enough…

On August 17, 2020, Deutsche Welle wrote:

“Many US voters continue to hate Clinton, the Democrats’ 2016 presidential nominee, to this day… Many major groups within the Democratic Party remain profoundly dissatisfied with their… presidential nominee [On August 18, Biden and Harris were officially and formally nominated]… For many Black, Latino, female and other progressive voters, [Biden] is far from being the candidate they wanted to usher in political change, stand up to corporations and revive the idea of the American dream.

“Some hope Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris — though also seen as an establishment politician like the former vice president — will be enough to convince voters to come out en masse in November, to motivate those who are tired of politics and others who remain undecided. But will she be enough to convince those Democrats who voted Republican in 2016 to come back to the party, or even win over those Republicans who don’t want another four years of Trump?… Biden doesn’t have the necessary charisma… Without a doubt… it’s President Trump who has the larger stage. And if there’s one thing he’s good at, it’s knowing which strings to pull to draw the attention of the global media.”

While Michelle Obama’s speech on August 17 met with much approval from many Democrats, Bill Clinton’s speech on Thursday night (August 18) was not well received which was reflected by headlines such as, “Impeached President Slams Impeached President,” or comments by left-wing comedian Stephen Colbert who said: “I don’t think Bill Clinton gets to lecture anyone on what should happen in the Oval Office. Those in glass houses should not be allowed near the interns.” In addition, left-wing or “progressive” Democrats and Sanders’ supporters are not happy at all with Biden and Harris. As Deutsche Welle reported on August 19: “… when it was revealed that [extreme left-wing Congresswoman] Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez… would only get one minute to speak, progressive Democrats were outraged,” adding, “The Democratic National Convention, which was supposed to unite the party, has become another point of contention.”

That Donald Trump will stay in power is preordained.

Harris Flopped

The Week published the following opinion piece by Damon Linker on August 20:

“Barack Obama delivered an incredible speech — a rhetorically accomplished, complexly argued case for defeating Donald Trump, and he delivered it impeccably… In that respect, Harris was in an impossible position. Originally Obama’s remarks were supposed to follow the speech of the vice-presidential nominee, but the former president reportedly suggested flipping the order once Harris’ name was announced. That inadvertently set Harris up for failure.

“But if she had gone first, her pedestrian, disjointed speech, delivered in a tone of phony overacting, would have been largely forgotten by the morning. Obama really was that good, and Harris really was that bad… Harris delivered her remarks on a large stage ringed with American flags before an auditorium empty of all but a handful of journalists, photographers, and producers. The vibe started at awkward and sank lower from there… no way it helped…”

We would agree with the analysis that Harris flopped big time, but we do not think that Obama’s speech was that incredible. He spent much time attacking Trump (nothing new, even though it breaks tradition which, until now, “prohibited” a former president from publicly attacking a sitting president), but he said little and nothing convincingly as to why voters should vote for Biden.

The Assassination of John F. Kennedy

On August 19, the Ron Paul Institute republished the following article by the “Future of Freedom Foundation”:

“Former Congressman Ron Paul and his colleague Dan McAdams recently conducted a fascinating interview with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., which focused in part on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, who was Kennedy Jr.’s uncle [as well as the assassination of his father, Robert Kennedy] …. In the interview, Robert Kennedy Jr…. stated that the deep animosity that the CIA had for the Kennedy family actually stretched back to something the family patriarch, Joseph P. Kennedy, did in the 1950s that incurred the wrath of Allen Dulles, the head of the CIA.

“Kennedy Jr. stated that his father had served on a commission that was charged with examining and analyzing CIA covert activities, or ‘dirty tricks’ as Kennedy Jr. put them. As part of that commission, Kennedy Jr stated, Joseph P. Kennedy (Kennedy’s Jr.’s grandfather) had determined that the CIA had done bad things with its regime-change operations that were destroying democracies…  Consequently, Joseph Kennedy recommended that the CIA’s power to engage in covert activities be terminated and that the CIA be strictly limited to collecting intelligence and empowered to do nothing else.

“According to Kennedy Jr., ‘Allen Dulles never forgave him — never forgave my family — for that.’… consider what happened with the Bay of Pigs. The CIA’s plan for a regime-change invasion of Cuba, was conceived under President Eisenhower. Believing that Vice President Nixon would be elected president in 1960, the CIA was quite surprised that Kennedy was elected instead. To ensure that the invasion would go forth anyway, the CIA assured Kennedy that the invasion would succeed without US air support. It was a lie. The CIA assumed that once the invasion was going to go down in defeat at the hands of the communists, Kennedy would have to provide the air support in order to ‘save face.’

“… When the CIA’s army of Cuban exiles was going down in defeat, the CIA requested the air support, convinced that their plan to manipulate the new president would work. It didn’t. Kennedy refused to provide the air support… Knowing that the CIA had played him and double-crossed him, John Kennedy fired Allen Dulles as CIA director, along with his chief deputy, Charles Cabell. He then put his younger brother Bobby Kennedy in charge of monitoring the CIA, which infuriated the CIA.

“Now jump ahead to the Cuban Missile Crisis, which Kennedy resolved by promising that the United States would not invade Cuba for a regime-change operation. That necessarily would leave a permanent communist regime in Cuba, something that the CIA steadfastly maintained was a grave threat to ‘national security’— a much bigger threat, in fact, than the threats supposedly posed by the regimes in Iran in 1953 and Guatemala in 1954…

“In his famous Peace Speech at American University in June 1963, [Kennedy] declared an end to the entire Cold War and announced that the United States was going to establish friendly and peaceful relations with the communist world…. In the minds of former CIA Director Allen Dulles and the people still at the CIA, what Kennedy was doing was anathema and, even worse, the gravest threat to ‘national security’ the United States had ever faced… At that point, the CIA’s animosity toward President Kennedy far exceeded the animosity it had borne toward his father, Joseph P. Kennedy, several years before.”

Europe’s Insane Corona Requirements

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 14:

“Germany has declared nearly all of Spain, including the island of Mallorca, as risky areas following a spike of coronavirus cases in the south European country. Only the Canary Islands — which lie off the coast of North Africa — are exempted. Travelers returning from high-risk areas [will] be required to undergo testing and wait for the result in self-isolation… The decision was made in coordination between Germany’s interior, foreign, and health ministries… The foreign ministry later updated its travel advice to include the warning.

“… the move is likely to be an immense blow for tourism in Mallorca, Ibiza and other Balearic islands, which normally see millions of German visitors every season. Some 4.3 million Germans visited Mallorca alone in 2018…

“The United Kingdom said Thursday it will reimpose a mandatory two-week quarantine on travelers arriving in the country from France or the Netherlands. Monaco and Malta — as well as the Caribbean islands of Turks and Caicos and Aruba — also join the travel quarantine list… More than 500,000 Britons are holidaying in France… France’s junior minister for European affairs, Clement Beaune, said it was ‘a British decision we regret and which will lead to a reciprocal measure.’”

These are ridiculous measures. In Britain, Boris Johnson becomes more and more unpredictable and controversial. (So is Netanyahu in Israel and, of course, Donald Trump in the USA). In Germany, the unconscionable decision regarding Spain was made by, inter alia, the health ministry under Health Minister Jens Spahn. Spahn, who is openly gay and just bought a luxurious villa in Berlin in the amount of 4.2 million Euros together with “his husband,” has proven to be a somewhat “low key” politician with highly controversial and devastating decisions.

Crazy Corona Requirements in German State for Students

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 12:

“It’s Christopher Niiaddysai’s first day at his new school. The 15-year-old is starting 11th grade. Teachers must now address him like an adult, and in two years, if all [is] going well, he can sit his school graduation exams. As he and his two friends stride purposefully through the gates of their school in Bonn, the sense of expectation is great… Like his fellow-students, he’ll be wearing [a mask] all day.  All secondary school students in the western state of North Rhine Westfalia – -about two million in total – have to cover their mouths and noses: in the schoolyard, in lessons, in the hallways…

“‘It’s annoying,’ says Niiaddysai… ‘I can’t breathe properly. That makes it hard to learn; it’s difficult to concentrate.’… The decision by the state authorities to make masks mandatory came just days ago. NRW is the only one of Germany’s 16 federal states to introduce the measure… The state education minister has called for harsh punishment of people who refuse to wear a mask: ranging as far as expulsion.”

This is totally insane. But it’s not limited to just one state in Germany. Note the next article.

Biden Wants Nationwide Mask Mandate

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 14:

“The presumptive US Democratic nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, has called for a nationwide mask mandate to curb the coronavirus outbreak.  ‘Let’s institute a mask mandate nationwide starting immediately and we will save lives, he said, adding that the plan could save more than 40,000 lives over the next three months.”

This is a political idea which is totally unsupported by the evidence, but which may sound good for certain voters.

Success Rate in South Dakota

Breitbart wrote on August 16:

“South Dakota turned down extra federal unemployment aid Friday due to the high rate of job recovery in the state. ‘Gov. Kristi Noem (R), a vocal ally of the White House, said South Dakota did not need the additional funds because workers in her state have been rehired and that its economy is rebounding after suffering economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic,’ according to The Hill.

“In a statement, Noem [stated:] ‘South Dakota’s economy, having never been shut down, has recovered nearly 80% of our job losses. South Dakota is the only state in the nation that didn’t have extended benefits kick in because our insured unemployment rate has been the lowest in the nation. We have the third best housing construction market in the country. And many, many businesses are looking to relocate to South Dakota because of the decisions we made during the pandemic. South Dakota is open for business — that applies to our business owners and their employees.’”

If other American states had done the same, we would not be in the devastating state we are in today as a country.

“Good News”—Fauci Is Out

On August 17, Dr. Ron Paul wrote in the Ron Paul Institute:

“These days it seems there is not much good news out there. People are still panicked over the coronavirus, governments are still trampling civil liberties in the name of fighting the virus, the economy –already teetering on the edge of collapse – has been kicked to the ground by what history may record as one of the worst man-made disasters of all time: shutting down the country to fight a cold virus.

“That’s why we’ll take good news wherever we can get it, and President Trump’s hiring of Dr. Scott Atlas to his coronavirus task force may just be that good news we need. As the media has reported, President Trump has sidelined headline-hogging Anthony Fauci in favor of Atlas, the former Stanford University Medical Center chief of neuroradiology…

“Fauci’s advice, forecasts, and assessments proved to be wildly wrong, contradictory, and just plain bizarre: Don’t wear a mask! You must wear a mask. Masks are important as symbols. Put on goggles. Stay home! Churches must be severely restricted but Black Lives Matter marches and encounters with strangers met over the Internet are perfectly fine.

“When Anthony Fauci demanded a lockdown of the economy for an indefinite period he actually seemed oblivious to the havoc it would wreak on the economy and on people’s lives. People like Fauci and others who demanded lockdowns and stay-at-home orders were still collecting their paychecks, so what did they care about anyone else?

“Dr. Scott Atlas is not only a former top physician and hospital administrator: as a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution he also understands the policy implications of locking a country down. On April 22, Dr. Atlas wrote an op-ed in The Hill… In the article he made five main points that are as true today as when he wrote them: an overwhelming majority of people are at no risk of dying from Covid; protecting older people prevents hospital overcrowding; locking down a population actually prevents the herd immunity necessary to defeat the virus; people are dying because they are not being treated for non-Covid illnesses; we know what part of the population is at risk and we can protect them.

“Imagine how many thousands of lives could have been saved had the Administration listened to Dr. Atlas back in April. CDC Director Robert Redfield admitted last month that lockdowns were killing more Americans than Covid… We very much hope that Dr. Atlas will not ‘moderate’ his message to please the blob in Washington. Trump’s Covid policies to this point have caused more harm than good. With Fauci out of the driver’s seat we finally have a chance of turning things around.”

We are afraid that in light of the politics involving the upcoming elections, Atlas might either change his message, or his moderate voice will not be heard.

Church Wins against Los Angeles County

California Globe wrote on August 15:

“A California superior court ruled in favor of the First Amendment and Pastor John MacArthur and Grace Community Church this week, while smacking down Los Angeles County officials… LA County tried to enforce a limit of 100 on church service attendees – a tiny fraction of the megachurch congregation…

“Judge James Chalfant denied almost all of the county’s requests at the August 14 Los Angeles Superior Court hearing, agreeing with [Pastor] MacArthur and the church that it is the county’s burden to show why they should be permitted to infringe on the constitutionally protected rights of churches to freely exercise religion.

“Attorneys for Grace Community Church explained that Los Angeles County was being unreasonable in its demands, and offered to have the congregation comply with face mask wearing and social distancing indoors until the matter could be fully heard. This was stipulated as a more reasonable action than that of the county’s rush to shut down church services. The judge agreed and set the full hearing for September 4, 2020, ordering the church to have congregants wear masks and social distance between family groups indoors…”

Still not that good, but better than prohibiting church services altogether.

Breitbart added on August 16:

Christian evangelical leader Rev. Franklin Graham posted to Facebook:

“‘It’s an important win for freedom of worship and for our Constitutional right to assemble and worship. Today a California judge ruled that Grace Community Church has every right to have indoor worship services and does not have to adhere to any attendance cap or ban on singing. This was the right call. I’m thankful for Pastor John MacArthur’s stand against the progressive leftist bullies in his state, and for Thomas More Society Attorney Jenna Ellis who is helping the church …in this legal battle. The First Amendment ensures the rights and freedoms of people of faith are protected. I hope this sends a message to those who would like nothing better than to keep churches shut down or limited…’

“Ellis also serves as an attorney to President Donald Trump.”

At least it’s a start. But we are not confident at all that other courts will follow the example.

Wildfires in California

The LA Times newsletter reported on August 20:

“It’s been an apocalyptic few days, even by California standards. Fueled by extraordinary weather conditions (officially 10,849 lightning strikes in a 72-hour period, record-breaking heat), fires have exploded across the state. Tens of thousands of Californians have had to evacuate… ‘We are experiencing fires, the likes of which we haven’t seen in many, many years,’ Gov. Gavin Newsom told Californians during a press conference Wednesday… According to the governor, the state has already seen 6,754 fires this year — a 68% increase from the same time last year… more than 300,000 acres have already burned statewide in 2020, which is more than the total acreage burned last year…

 “The sheer number of new fires is straining resources, particularly because fires are also burning in other nearby states amid a historic heat wave scorching the West Coast. Newsom said that this has complicated the call for mutual aid… the cascade of compounding crises continues to mount. The fires have also created serious air quality issues in several parts of the state. The San Francisco Bay Area has been blanketed by ash and smoke as fires burn in eight of its nine counties… the biggest fires, many of which are believed to have been sparked by an unusually active sequence of largely dry lightning strikes, are in Northern and Central California. The two largest active fires — the SCU Lightning Complex fire and the LNU Lightning Complex fire — are actually both clusters of many smaller fires…”

 Is California cursed?

The Lucrative Business with Coronavirus Vaccines

CNN Business wrote on August 14:

“The race for a successful coronavirus vaccine is heating up in labs around the world — and on Wall Street. Germany’s CureVac, a biotech with the backing of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, more than tripled in its first day of trading Friday. CureVac priced its initial public offering at $16 a share. The stock soared nearly 250%, to just below $56, by the end of the day…

“The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the charitable arm of the multibillionaire Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder and his wife, invested $40 million in the company in 2015. CureVac recently received approval from the governments of Germany and Belgium to start clinical tests for one of its vaccines for Covid-19…

“CureVac also has another big name in its roster of partners: the firm is working on technology with Elon Musk’s electric car giant Tesla (TSLA)…”

But haven’t we been told time and time again that the development of a vaccine is for the good of the people without any financial benefits for the companies? We are joking, of course.

Mandatory Coronavirus Vaccines in Australia?

AFP wrote on August 18:

“Australia should make any coronavirus vaccine compulsory for its 25 million citizens bar medical exemptions, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Wednesday, wading into a heated ethical debate… Anticipating a backlash from vocal anti-vaccine activists, Morrison said the stakes were too high to allow the disease to continue unchecked… The Australian government estimates that up to 95 percent of the population would need to be immune to the virus for it to be eradicated…

“… kids have to receive vaccines for diseases including polio and tetanus to enrol in kindergarten or school.”

Many doctors feel that the figure of 95% is totally overblown. Australia’s governmental measures and restrictions become more and more radical and dictatorial. For instance, in Melbourne, one cannot travel more than 5 km from home without a valid reason. Anyone who works at night needs a government-issued permit to travel during curfew.

Processing Diseased and Sick Chicken for “Food”?

Bloomberg wrote on August 11:

“Consider the decision last month by the agriculture department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service to allow poultry plants to process diseased chickens for human consumption. In July the FSIS approved a petition from the National Chicken Council requesting that slaughterhouses be allowed to process broilers infected with Avian Leukosis — a virus that causes chickens to develop cancerous lesions and tumors. Inspectors would no longer be required to examine the first 300 birds of each flock for signs of the disease, and processors would be able to cut off tumors and lesions and then process the rest of the bird…

“Here’s what we know about Avian Leukosis: A small percentage of birds (less than 1%) are diagnosed with the virus each year, but it spreads quickly through flocks and tens of thousands of chickens are condemned annually due to exposure. While it’s unlikely that the virus could transfer from chickens to humans, it’s not impossible. There is some evidence that workers exposed to birds infected with the disease in the U.K. have developed antibodies, indicating a transfer of the virus from animal to human…

“The CDC reports that ‘more than six out of every 10 known infectious diseases in people can be spread from animals, and 3 out of every 4 new or emerging infectious diseases in people come from animals.’”

To process diseased chicken for food is clearly unbiblical. To process chicken with a virus for food is just plain stupid.

North Korea Confiscates Pet Dogs for Food?

The New York Post wrote on August 17:

“North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has ordered [pet] dogs to be confiscated in the country’s capital, saying the pooches represent Western ‘decadence’… Kim issued the directive in July to round up the pets, claiming they were part of ‘a “tainted” trend by bourgeouis ideology’…  ‘Ordinary people raise pigs and livestock on their porches, but high-ranking officials and the wealthy own pet dogs, which stoked some resentment’ among the lower classes, the source said. ‘Authorities have identified households with pet dogs and are forcing them to give them up or forcefully confiscating them and putting them down.’’

“But while the oppressive regime says the move is to clamp down on capitalist extravagance in Pyongyang, the dog owners are fearful that given North Korea’s food shortage — and propensity for eating dog meat—the directive has only come about to feed the masses. The dog owners are ‘cursing Kim Jong Un behind his back,’ but otherwise, their hands are tied, the source lamented.”

Sick!

More Nonsense from Germany

Fox News wrote on August 16:

“A popular spicy dressing in Germany is getting rebranded because of the racist connotations of its name. Food company Knorr will change the name of its ‘Zigeunersauce,’ or ‘gypsy sauce’ to ‘Paprika Sauce Hungarian Style,’ Bild am Sonntag reported Sunday. ‘Since “gypsy sauce” can be interpreted in a negative way, we have decided to give our Knorr sauce a new name,’ said Unilever, the company that owns Knorr…

“The renaming of the brand follows recent international debates over racism, especially in the United States, where big national companies have also renamed traditional brands in response to concerns about racial stereotyping…”

Stupidity galore.

“Germans Must Walk their Dogs twice a Day…”

The Guardian wrote on August 19:

“Germany’s agriculture minister, Julia Klöckner, has said she is introducing the new law based on evidence that many of the nation’s 9.4 million dogs are not getting the exercise or stimuli they need. Under the new regulations in the Hundeverordnung, or Dog’s Act, owners will not get away with a quick jog round the block, but will be required to take their dogs out for at least one hour [a day]… The tethering of dogs on a chain or a lead for long periods also faces an all-out ban. Dogs may not be left alone at home all day, and a person will be required to take care of their dog ‘several times a day’….

“News of the law, which is due to be introduced next year and was made widely known for the first time this week, has prompted a lively debate in Germany. The main question is how it will be possible to check up on the 19% of German households that own dogs, which as pets are second in popularity only to cats. A spokeswoman for the agricultural ministry has said the authorities in each of Germany’s 16 states will be responsible for enforcing the law.”

An opinion piece in the Bild newspaper was titled: “Compulsory Walkies for Dog Owners? Rubbish!” Indeed it is. Germany, a country known for its bureaucracy, has imposed many unreasonable restrictions on the German population to “combat” the coronavirus pandemic. But if that were not enough, now another silly proposal is made to tell dog owners how to raise their dogs. 

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.

Governmental Restrictions Might Jeopardize Celebration of Feast of Tabernacles

The World wrote on August 6:

“Oregon Gov. Kate… Brown’s Press Secretary Liz Merah responded [to an inquiry]: “‘… in recent weeks, doctors, health experts, and case investigators have reported seeing cases linked to interstate travel. The issue of travel restrictions was raised by members of the Governor’s Medical Advisory Panel based on COVID-19 cases linked to travel in southern Oregon, which is troubling based on the spikes in case counts California is currently experiencing. County-level COVID-19 data from across the country likewise shows increasing case counts between linked communities across state borders.

“‘We are asking the health experts at the Oregon Health Authority and the Medical Advisory Panel for more data on travel-related spread of COVID-19, as well as recommendations for health and safety measures to address such cases. In conversations with legislators today, our office also discussed the reality that many Oregonians in communities on the state’s borders often cross those borders for work, and that any restrictions must take economic and supply chain implications into account. As the Governor has stated previously, our focus is on restrictions related to tourist travel from hotspot states and communities. Conversations are ongoing about how those restrictions could work.’”

It is obvious to us that panic-driven and mostly unrealistic and unscientific governmental restrictions are Satan’s tool to destroy the Church of God and to prevent the Church and its members from keeping the biblically commanded Feast of Tabernacles in the month of October for eight days. The Church of the Eternal God (CEG) is determined to keep the Feast in the manner prescribed by God and at the place(s) where God has placed His name. We would therefore like to ask for PRAYERS that God binds the hands of Satan and allows us to keep God’s commandment. The situation in Oregon is one example as to how Satan might try to prevent Church members from traveling to God’s designated feast site for CEG in South Dakota. (As the article below points out, Satan might even try to sabotage the Feast site in South Dakota.)

Canadian Church members are presently not allowed to travel to the USA by land; and American members are not permitted to fly to Germany to keep the Feast there at God’s designated site near Düsseldorf with the German-speaking brethren. We see indications that Satan may be trying to influence the German state and federal governments to restrict or even prohibit Church services and Church assemblies in the country. Right now, members from the UK and other European and some non-European countries are still allowed to travel to Germany for the Feast, but not to the USA. Australian members are likewise faced with the possibility of a lockdown which might prevent them from keeping the Feast, if Satan were to prevail.

In addition, even where governments allow Church services, Satan wants to use them to restrict the biblically commanded way as to how to conduct those, and sadly, many worldly churches and even some claiming to be in the Body of Christ manifest a spirit of Sardis or Laodicea and have buckled in fear and are far too willing to “oblige,” sometimes with most ridiculous results. Our free booklets, “Obeying God Rather Than Men,” and “How to Keep the Sabbath,” give important guidelines in this regard.

It is therefore incumbent upon God’s people to pray to God for His mighty intervention to bind the hands of Satan and to allow God’s people to observe the Feast of Tabernacles at the place where God has placed His name, and to be able to do so in freedom and security and with joy and thankfulness.  

Motorcycle Enthusiasts Gather in South Dakota

Fox News wrote on August 8:

“Crowds of motorcycle enthusiasts gathered in Sturgis, S.D., Friday for the start of the 80^th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally…  Organizers were expecting 250,000 people from all over the country to [meet] at the 10-day event. Many bikers were defiant over the restrictions…

“Republican Gov. Kristi Noem has taken a largely hands-off approach to the pandemic, avoiding a mask mandate and preaching personal responsibility. She supported holding the Sturgis rally, pointing out that no virus outbreak was documented from the several thousand people who turned out to see President Donald Trump and fireworks at Mount Rushmore last month.”

Good for her but the fear is that a manufactured alleged “rise” in cases might place pressure on Gov. Noem to impose some restrictions. We hope not, as God has led us to keep the Feast of Tabernacles this year in South Dakota.

Ban on American Citizens to Enter the USA?

The New York Times wrote on August 10:

“President Trump is considering new immigration regulations that would allow border officials to temporarily block American citizens and legal permanent residents from returning to the United States from abroad if authorities believe they may be infected with the coronavirus…

“Under the proposal…, the government could block a citizen or legal resident from crossing the border into the United States if an official ‘reasonably believes that the individual either may have been exposed to or is infected with the communicable disease.’… The documents appear not to spell out how long a citizen or legal resident would be required to remain outside of the United States. The draft memo says the prohibition on the introduction of U.S. citizens or legal residents from abroad would apply ‘only in the rarest of circumstances,’ and ‘when required in the interest of public health, and be limited in duration.’

“Still if Mr. Trump approves the change, it would be an escalation of his government’s longstanding attempts to seal the border against what he considers to be threats, using the existence of the coronavirus pandemic as a justification for taking actions that would have been seen as draconian in other contexts… It is unclear whether there are any existing rules that would allow American citizens and legal residents to be prohibited from returning to the United States for a period of time because of concerns about a communicable disease. Immigration officials have broad authority to deny entry to people based on national security issues.

“The rule appears to apply to all points of entry into the United States, including at airports and along both the northern and southern borders. In particular, the draft could impact the border with Mexico, where many American citizens and legal residents cross back and forth frequently. The rule notes the prevalence of the coronavirus in Mexico as evidence of the need for the modified rule, citing the death on August 2 of the health minister in the Mexican border state of Chihuahua, who the order says died of Covid-19 after a two week hospitalization. The draft regulation notes the stress that Covid-19 has placed on the Mexican health care system and says it has driven people from Mexico into the United States to seek care.”

We wonder whose ”brilliant” mind is behind this draft. It’s getting worse and worse… This concept does not seem to have ANY justification or logic whatsoever. What would happen to those who will be rejected at an airport? Where would they end up? Where would they stay? They could not enter the USA, and they could not go back to the country of their last vacation. (That country would not accept them back.) Would they have to stay in the airport complex, in “no man’s land,” before crossing the border?

Will this nonsense EVER end????

Further Corona Restrictions for Germany

Deutsche Welle reported on August 7:

“German Health Minister Jens Spahn announced Thursday wide-reaching new testing measures for arrivals in Germany. From Saturday, all of those arriving from designated risk areas will have to be tested for coronavirus unless they can produce a negative test certificate no more than two days old. The rules apply to anyone of any nationality arriving in Germany from a so-called risk area… Germany’s public health agency, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), has a list of risk areas that they update on a daily basis… It extends to a large number of countries outside of the European Union, but EU members are not necessarily exempt. At the time of writing, the list of risk areas included the US, several northern regions of Spain, North Macedonia, Israel, Iran, Turkey, India and North Korea. The Belgium province of Antwerp was added on Wednesday after a spike in cases…

“People refusing to take a test could face a fine of up €25,000 ($30,000), depending on the federal state where they live… The tests… will be carried out by the German Red Cross right behind the passport and customs areas at airports. There are also plans to set up testing booths at the borders by motorways and train stations. Should an immediate test not be possible, because the test booths are closed, travelers are obliged to go for a test within 14 days and remain in quarantine until they have done so…

“Medical experts say the obligatory testing introduced by Jens Spahn is legitimate…”

The legality for any of this is very doubtful, but who cares?

Religious Persecution… A Ridiculous Decision by a California Judge

The San Diego Union-Tribune wrote on August 7:

“A California church that for weeks has held indoor worship in defiance of anti-coronavirus health orders must close its doors, a judge ruled Friday. A temporary restraining order was issued that bars Godspeak Calvary Chapel in Newbury Park from indoor worship services anywhere in the county. ‘The court finds that there is an immediate threat to public health and safety due to the 2019 novel coronavirus,’

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Matthew Guasco wrote. The order will be in place until another hearing is held on Aug. 21.

“The county north of Los Angeles and its health officer sued the church after Pastor Rob McCoy repeatedly defied health orders designed to limit the spread of COVID-19. Services for as many as 200 worshipers offered ‘singing, hugging, no masks,’ in McCoy’s words. The suit was filed last week, a day after the county Board of Supervisors authorized court actions to enforce the health orders. The suit said permitting the church to keep holding indoor services could harm the public, ‘including hospitalizations and deaths.’

“‘On a scale of one to 10 of the most immediate irreparable harm possible, this is a 10,’ Guasco said at the hearing. ‘It doesn’t get much more immediate or irreparable than the threat that a lot of people are going to spread a contagious and deadly disease.’…

“McCoy has argued that the risk of spreading COVID-19 from its services is small and there hasn’t been a confirmed case among parishioners. Lawyers for the church also have argued that the health orders are overreach that are trumped by the Constitutional right to freedom of expression and worship… ‘We believe that COVID-19 can be fought with far less restrictive measures than banning all healthy persons from church and our expert witnesses will prove that,’ said a statement Friday from Tyler & Bursch, which is defending the church through a non-profit organization, Advocates for Faith & Freedom.

“Godspeak Calvary Chapel is one of a handful of churches in the state that have wound up in court over state or local health orders restricting services. Judges have consistently ruled against the churches on grounds of public safety. Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld state COVID-19 restrictions on religious gatherings in a suit filed by South Bay United Pentecostal Church in Chula Vista… ‘The Constitution is not a suicide pact,’ Guasco said…”

Have you ever heard a more ridiculous statement? Truly, Satan is ruling this world! It is time for Jesus Christ to return to replace unrighteous judges with righteous ones.  

Worshipping God Inside Walmart

Breitbart wrote on August 7:

“Christian worshippers outsmarted Pennsylvania’s fascist Democrat governor [Tom Wolf] by gathering to praise God inside a Walmart — which, unlike the church, has been deemed ‘essential’… The Walmart [incident] is not only beautiful for all the obvious reasons, it also points out the hypocrisy and anti-religious bigotry of these selective lockdowns and guidelines — not to mention their absurdity. Gathering to sing and praise God in a Walmart does not defy these totally unnecessary and useless social distancing guidelines, but gathering to sing and praise God in a house of worship does.

“Please do tell me why it’s safe to gather in a Walmart, but not a church, synagogue, or mosque? I guess the science behind that thinking must be the same science that explains why a Trump rally is deadly but a Black Lives Matter/Antifa riot is totally safe — or why you holding a funeral for your loved one will kill people, but it is perfectly safe when left-wing elites gather for an indoor funeral to say goodbye to John Lewis, one of their own…

“Just try to wrap your mind around the fact that one of America’s major political parties… as well as the corporate media… want to shut down our church but protect abortion clinics and marijuana dispensaries as ‘essential.’ They want to protect the right to gather to loot and riot and burn, even as they use the fascist power of the State to strip us of our First Amendment right to gather together and worship…”

Indeed, it shows the abhorrent stupidity and blatant hypocrisy of such restrictions and prohibitions and that SATAN is behind all of this. Why then would a church, claiming to be part of the Body of Christ, support and endorse such nonsense?

Megachurch Defies California Restrictions

The Hill wrote on August 12:

“The pastor of a megachurch in Los Angeles defended the church’s decision to allow thousands in for services Sunday, defying California state orders amid the coronavirus outbreak. Grace Community Church held in-person services on Sunday, and pastor John MacArthur told CNN that 6,000 or 7,000 people showed up. The crowd size defies a state order released at the end of July that limits indoor attendance at a place of worship to 25 percent of a building capacity or a maximum of 100 attendees, whichever is lower…

“‘We opened the doors because that’s what we are, we’re a church and we’re going to trust those people to make adult decisions about the reality of their physical and spiritual health and how that balance works for each one of them,’ [MacArthur] said. ‘Nobody’s forcing anything, they’re here because they want to be here.’

“MacArthur called the restrictions on places of worship put in place to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus ‘not constitutional’ and ‘burdensome,’ and argued they make ‘no sense in light of the actual numbers of death’ members of his church are seeing.”

Amen to that.

The Lockdown Fallacy

The Sun wrote on August 8:

“ALMOST as many have been killed by lockdown as by the virus itself, an official report suggests. According to figures, for every three Covid-19 dead another two have died because they missed vital medical treatment.

“Between March and May there were 25,000 coronavirus deaths. At the same time 16,000 others also died, including 6,000 too scared to go to A&E. People felt that they should stay home because of the Governments ‘Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives’ message. And [it] is thought 10,000 died in care homes after they were discharged early from hospitals. They were not able to access critical care.”

These numbers take the official figures of coronavirus deaths for granted, which is highly questionable. This means, maybe MANY MORE died because of the lockdown than because of the virus. In a related matter, it was now reported that a Nashville councilwoman has proposed charging anyone not wearing a mask with either murder or attempted murder. This is insane lunacy by a completely incompetent politician!

Needed… An anti-Lockdown Movement

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on August 10:

“Shell-shocked is a good way to describe the mood in the US for a good part of the Spring of 2020. Most of us never thought it could happen here. I certainly did not, even though I’ve been writing about pandemic lockdown plans for 15 years. I knew the plans were on the shelf, which is egregious, but I always thought something would stop it from happening. The courts. Public opinion. Bill of Rights. Tradition. The core rowdiness of American culture. Political squeamishness. The availability of information. Something would prevent it. So I believed. So most of us believed.

“Still it happened, all in a matter of days, March 12-16, 2020, and boom; it was over! We were locked down. Schools shut. Bars and restaurants closed. No international visitors. Theaters shuttered. Conferences forcibly ended. Sports stopped. We were told to stay home and watch movies… for two weeks to flatten the curve. Then two weeks stretched to five months. How lucky for those who lived in the states that resisted the pressure and stayed open, but even for them, they couldn’t visit relatives in other states due to quarantine restrictions and so on.

“Lockdowns ended American life as we knew it just five months ago… What many states are calling ‘open’ today would have been called ‘closed’ six months ago. Sports are rare. Theaters aren’t open. In some places, you still can’t go to gyms or eat inside. Mask mandates are everywhere, and mask enforcers too. People are ratting out their neighbors, sending drones to ferret out house parties, and lashing out at each other in public places… America has become an extremely ugly place. This is what lockdowns did.

“… the TV and online media are blaring panic all day every day… people feel tremendously powerless right now. They have been locked down, silenced, humiliated, brutalized. The few attempts to get out and protest the lockdowns were greeted with jeers and derision by mainstream media…

“Where precisely does American opinion stand on lockdowns today? The polls one cannot trust: people know exactly what they are supposed to say to pollsters during a police-state lockdown… The incredible frenzy of the lying media has confused vast numbers. A poll revealed that many Americans think that 9% of us have died from C-19 whereas it is really 0.04%…

“We see almost no discussion in the mainstream press of the empirical evidence at home and abroad that the lockdowns make no sense from a medical and economic perspective…

“This country needs a serious anti-lockdown movement… This movement needs to celebrate and defend religious freedom, since, incredibly, most houses of worship were forcibly closed by government…

“Laws requiring face coverings in public would never have been tolerated even six months ago. And yet here we are, not only with laws but a growing number of recruits within the public to enforce them with appalling rudeness…

“In the end, the case for unlocking society is a spiritual matter. What is your life worth and how do you want to live it? How important are the hard-won freedoms you exercise daily? What of the lives and liberties of others?… Freedom has never prevailed without passionate and courageous voices to defend it…”

It is amazing to see how quickly the world has changed… and how quickly the ill-informed masses have “embraced” autocratic senseless measures by their governments…

Fauci: Chances Are Slim for an Effective Vaccine

CNBC wrote on August 8:

“Dr. Anthony Fauci said Friday that the chances of scientists creating a highly effective vaccine — one that provides 98% or more guaranteed protection — for the virus are slim. Scientists are hoping for a coronavirus vaccine that is at least 75% effective, but 50% or 60% effective would be acceptable, too, Fauci… said…

“The Food and Drug Administration has said it would authorize a coronavirus vaccine so long as it is safe and at least 50% effective…  A 50% effective vaccine would be roughly on par with those for influenza…

“Fauci has previously said he worries about the ‘durability’ of a coronavirus vaccine, saying if Covid-19 acts like other coronaviruses, it may not provide long-term protection… Health officials say there is no returning to ‘normal’ until there is a vaccine.”

After all this hype for a vaccine, now this latest “expert” opinion! It appears these health advisors know next to nothing about the virus and how to deal with it. God must have poured out upon them a spirit of sleep and slumber.

Russia’s Dubious and Dangerous Claim

The Associated Press wrote on August 11:

“Russia on Tuesday became the first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine, a move that was met with international skepticism and unease because the shots have only been studied in dozens of people. President Vladimir Putin announced the Health Ministry’s approval and said one of his two adult daughters already was inoculated. He said the vaccine underwent the necessary tests and was shown to provide lasting immunity to the coronavirus, although Russian authorities have offered no proof to back up claims of safety or effectiveness…

“However, scientists in Russia and other countries sounded an alarm, saying that rushing to offer the vaccine before final-stage testing could backfire. What’s called a Phase 3 trial — which involves tens of thousands of people and can take months — is the only way to prove if an experimental vaccine is safe and really works. By comparison, vaccines entering final-stage testing in the U.S. require studies of 30,000 people each…

“Becoming the first country in the world to approve a vaccine was a matter of national prestige for the Kremlin as it tries to assert the image of Russia as a global power…”

These kinds of power plays are sickening and endanger the health of millions of people.

Trump: Children Almost Immune from Coronavirus

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on August 7:

“Facebook and Twitter have taken down the US president’s claims on the insusceptibility of children to Covid-19 – a fact on which the science supports him – proving that Big Tech is increasingly acting in a nakedly political way. In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Donald Trump declared that ‘children are almost immune’ from coronavirus. The videos posted online have been deleted, but the trimmed audio is available… on CNN, which… titled it ‘Trump falsely says kids are “almost immune’” from Covid-19,’ just in case its editorial position was in any way in doubt.

“… the evidence of your own eyes should be enough to pass judgement on this. But here are a few statistics that stand out from the literature. Only a tiny fraction (0.8 percent) of Covid-19 hospital patients have been under the age of 19. Not a single child aged under 10 anywhere in the world has transmitted the virus to another person, despite a global effort from the World Health Organization to find one. And a large meta study across 26 counties found just seven deaths among children that were ascribed to coronavirus.

“Bearing those figures in mind, if Trump meant that ‘almost all children are immune,’ he was right. Similarly, if he meant children as a whole are ‘almost immune’, it would take considerable mental gymnastics to disagree. And this is if the statistics are taken at face value: the 0.8 percent figure is just as exaggerated as all the other figures, due to asymptomatic cases, and the seven deaths is such a small number it is statistically insignificant. Who knows what went on in those seven cases, and how old the patients were. If they were older teens, they could just as easily have been classed as adults.”

The intolerance of Big Tech towards those who state scientifically proven FACTS is appalling.

And Now… the Bubonic Plague?

CNN wrote on August 7:

“Authorities in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia have sealed off a village after a resident there died from bubonic plague, a centuries-old disease responsible for the most deadly pandemic in human history. It did not mention how the patient had caught the plague…

“The plague, caused by bacteria and transmitted through flea bites and infected animals, killed an estimated 50 million people in Europe during the Black Death pandemic in the Middle Ages…

“Anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 people get the plague every year… But that total is likely too modest an estimate, since it doesn’t account for unreported cases. According to 2016 data, the possibility of plague exists on almost every continent, especially the western United States, parts of Brazil, scattered areas in southeast Africa and large swaths of China, India and the Middle East.

“… [People were urged] to reduce contact with wild animals while traveling and avoid hunting, skinning or eating animals that could cause infection.

“Last month, two cases of bubonic plague were confirmed in Mongolia — brothers who had both eaten marmot meat… In May 2019, another couple in Mongolia died from the plague after eating the raw kidney of a marmot, thought to be a folk remedy for good health.

“Marmots are a type of large ground squirrel that is eaten in some parts of China and the neighboring country Mongolia, and which have historically caused plague outbreaks in the region. The marmot is believed to have caused the 1911 pneumonic plague epidemic, which killed about 63,000 people in northeast China. It was hunted for its fur, which soared in popularity among international traders. The diseased fur products were traded and transported around the country — infecting thousands along the way.”

Breaking Israel News wrote on August 10:

“In a seemingly unrelated case, a man in his 20s died of the septicaemic plague in New Mexico last week. This was the second case of septicaemic plague in New Mexico in less [than a month] after a man in his 60s was diagnosed with bubonic plague in New Mexico’s Santa Fe County last month.”

Marmots are unclean animals and not to be eaten. The Bible says that many people will die in the future because of the “wild beasts of the earth.”

Disagreements between Washington and Berlin on WHO

Reuters wrote on August 7:

“France and Germany have quit talks on reforming the World Health Organization in frustration at attempts by the United States to lead the negotiations, despite its decision to leave the WHO… The move is a setback for President Donald Trump as Washington, which holds the rotating chair of the G7, had hoped to issue a common roadmap for a sweeping overhaul of the WHO…

“The German and French health ministries confirmed to Reuters that the two countries were opposed to the United States leading the talks after announcing their intention to leave the organization…

“It is unclear whether a G7 summit in the United States, at which Trump hopes leaders will endorse the roadmap, will now go ahead in September as planned… Despite changes to the original text, Washington’s push remained unacceptable, mainly to Germany, sources familiar with the negotiations said.”

The relationship between the USA and Germany is close to reaching a boiling point. Note the next article.

Macgregor new US Ambassador to Germany

Business Insider wrote on August 5:

“US President Trump’s pick for US ambassador to Germany accused Angela Merkel of prioritising ‘unwanted Muslim invaders’ over military aid and said Muslim migrants wanted to turn Europe ‘into an Islamic state.’ The White House on Monday announced that Col. Douglas Macgregor, a former Army tank commander, would succeed Richard Grennel as the US ambassador to [the] European Union’s largest economy, saying he is ‘widely recognized as an expert on force design and grand strategy.’ [Macgregor] is an enthusiastic supporter of Trump’s move to withdraw thousands of troops from Germany.

“In 2018, he… said ‘the Germans, like the Koreans and the Japanese, are tired of this American troop presence on their soil,’ calling for a ‘change our relationship with Germany in terms of military power.’ A year later he [said]: ‘… we’re not going to rush hundreds of thousands of troops to the Polish border to deal with the Russians.’…

“[Macgregor] is inheriting a strained US relationship with Germany. His appointment comes amid months of tension between Washington and Berlin after Merkel’s government reacted angrily to President Trump’s decision to withdraw nearly 12,000 troops from Germany…

“A report published last week by London-based think tank, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) said that Germany no longer believed it could expect the US’ help against the threat of Russia and China.

“[Macgregor] has expressed views on other major issues in European geopolitics that fall outside of the mainstream. In 2014, weeks after Russia illegally annexed the Ukrainian region of Crimea, he told Kremlin-owned media outlet Russia Today that eastern and southern Ukrainians were ‘clearly Russian’ and ‘should be allowed to join Russia’…”

None of that makes Germany happy. Regardless as to whether Macgregor’s opinions are true or false, they will not help to improve the relationship between these two powers. Grennel’s performance was bad enough in the eyes of the Germans; it appears that Macgregor’s conduct will be viewed as even worse.

Germany “Dismayed” over US Sanction Threat regarding Pipeline

The Associated Press wrote on August 10:

“German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Monday he personally reached out to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to express ‘dismay’ over… a letter sent last week by Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Tom Cotton and Sen. Ron Johnson, which targeted Faehrhafen Sassnitz GmbH, the operator of the Mukran Port located in German Chancellor Angela Merkel´s constituency on the Baltic Sea island of Ruegen… The port is a key staging post for ships involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that’s intended to bring natural gas from Russia to Germany.

“The U.S. argues the project will endanger European [energy and American national] security by making Germany overly dependent on Russian gas. It’s also opposed by Ukraine and Poland, which will be bypassed by the pipeline under the Baltic sea, as well as some other European nations… In addition to the security concerns, the U.S. also wants to sell more of its own liquefied natural gas, or LNG, to Germany — Europe’s largest economy.

“In the letter, the three senators say the message ‘serves as formal legal notice’ that the port operator, its board members, corporate officers, shareholders, and employees risk ‘crushing legal and economic sanctions’ unless they stop providing goods, services, and support for the Nord Stream 2 project. This includes providing storage areas for the pipeline’s steel sections and provisions for the Russian-flagged vessels Fortuna and Akademik Cherskiy…”

More controversy and conflicts between the USA and Germany can be expected.

The Beirut Disaster

Breitbart wrote on August 7:

“Lebanese President Michel Aoun said on Friday the cause of the titanic explosion in Beirut on Tuesday ‘has not been determined yet,’ and authorities have not ruled out the ‘possibility of external interference through a rocket or bomb or other act.’”

The Telegraph added on August 7:

“[The] Government has rejected calls for an international investigation and instead suggested it could have been ‘foreign interference.’ Lebanon’s president has suggested that a missile could have been responsible for the catastrophic Beirut blast, as the country’s entrenched ruling class comes under increasing pressure from enraged citizens to resign….”

This incident and more to come will contribute to a terrible war in the Middle East.

A Bankrupt Nation

Reuters wrote on August 7:

“Lebanon’s president said on Friday its investigation into the biggest blast in Beirut’s history would examine whether it was caused by a bomb or other external interference… While the United States has said it did not rule out an attack, Israel, which has fought several wars with Lebanon, has denied any role. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the cause was unclear, but compared the blast to a 2005 bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri…

“Officials have said the blast, whose impact was recorded hundreds of miles (kms) away, might have caused losses amounting to $15 billion. That is a bill Lebanon cannot pay after already defaulting on a mountain of debt – exceeding 150% of economic output – and with talks stalled on a lifeline from the International Monetary Fund.

“After the blast destroyed Lebanon’s only major grain silo, U.N. agencies helped provide emergency food and medical aid. Aid offers have also poured in from Arab states, Western nations, the Vatican and beyond. But none, so far, addresses the bigger challenges facing a bankrupt nation.”

Hezbollah’s Intentions

The Times of Israel wrote on August 8:

“Hezbollah apparently planned to use the ammonium nitrate stockpile that caused a massive blast at Beirut’s port this week against Israel in a ‘Third Lebanon War,’ according to an unsourced assessment publicized on Israel’s Channel 13 Friday night. The report was broadcast hours after Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, gave a speech ‘categorically’ denying that his group had stored any weapons or explosives at Beirut’s port, following the massive explosion there Tuesday that has claimed over 157 lives and wounded [over 5,000. Around 300,000 Beirut residents were rendered homeless].

“Ammonium nitrate is used in the manufacture of explosives and is also an ingredient in making fertilizer. It has been blamed for massive industrial accidents in the past, and was also a main ingredient in a bomb that destroyed a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995. Last year, reports in Israel claimed that the Mossad had tipped off European intelligence agencies about Hezbollah storing caches of ammonium nitrate for use in bombs in London, Cyprus and elsewhere.

“The Channel 13 report noted that ‘the material that exploded in the port is not new to Nasrallah and Hezbollah.’ It detailed Hezbollah’s previous connections to ammonium nitrate…”

French Ambitions in Lebanon

The Associated Press wrote on August 8:

“It was almost as if Emmanuel Macron forgot that Lebanon is no longer a French protectorate. Visiting explosion-ravaged Beirut this week, France’s leader comforted distraught crowds, promised to rebuild the city and claimed that the blast pierced France’s own heart. ‘France will never let Lebanon go,’ Macron said…

“His critics denounced the overtures as a neocolonialist foray by a European leader seeking to restore sway over a troubled Middle Eastern land – and distract from mounting problems at home. A meme circulating online dubbed him Macron Bonaparte, a 21st century Emperor Napoleon. But Macron’s defenders — including desperate Beirut residents who called him ‘our only hope’ — praised him for visiting gutted neighborhoods where Lebanese leaders fear to tread, and for trying to hold Lebanon’s politicians accountable for the corruption and mismanagement blamed for Tuesday’s deadly blast…

“France’s ties with Lebanon reach back at least to the 16th century, when the French monarchy negotiated with Ottoman rulers to protect Christians – and secure influence — in the region. By the time of the 1920-1946 French mandate, Lebanon already had a network of French schools and French speakers that survives to this day — along with France’s cozy relationships with Lebanon’s power brokers…

“A surprising online petition emerged this week asking France to temporarily restore its mandate, saying Lebanon’s leaders have shown ‘total inability to secure and manage the country.’ It’s widely seen as an absurd idea… but 60,000 people have signed it, including members of France’s 250,000-strong Lebanese diaspora and people in Lebanon who said it’s a way to express their desperation and distrust of the political class.

“[Macron] made a point of noting that he plans to return to Lebanon to verify that promised reforms are being undertaken on Sept. 1, the 100th anniversary of the declaration of Greater Lebanon – and the beginning of French rule.”

French, as well as German ambitions, will play a major future role in the Middle East, including Lebanon.  

Lebanese Prime Minister and Entire Cabinet Resign

The Times of Israel reported on August 10:

“Lebanon’s prime minister said Monday he and the entire cabinet were stepping down in the wake of the Beirut port explosion last week that triggered public fury and mass protests… The cabinet’s resignation risked opening the way to dragged-out negotiations over a new cabinet amid urgent calls for reform. The moment typified Lebanon’s political dilemma.

“Since October, there have been mass demonstrations demanding the departure of the entire sectarian-based leadership over entrenched corruption, incompetence and mismanagement. But the ruling oligarchy has held onto power for so long — since the end of the civil war in 1990 — that it is difficult to find a credible political figure not tainted by connections to them.”

Coming—the European Army

Express wrote on August 11:

“There is ‘growing support’ on the continent for an EU army with enthusiastic backing from Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and France’s President Emmanuel Macron, a former top diplomat has claimed. With the UK no longer a member of the bloc, the push to create a joint military force may be impossible to stop, said Ray Bassett, Ireland’s  former ambassador to Canada, Jamaica and the Bahamas. The warning was sounded by Mr Bassett in the course of his new book, Ireland and the EU Post Brexit, in which he considers Ireland’s place in the bloc after the departure of the UK.

“… Assessing the EU’s stance, Mr Bassett said Brussels was motivated by a ‘growing detachment from the United States and resentment at the domination of that country of present military arrangements under NATO… He added: ‘As the US becomes more wary of foreign adventurism, some within the EU want to fill the vacuum left by Uncle Sam. To do that, they want a European Army, with a large European industrial-military complex in support.’… In fact, the proposal to militarise the EU is receiving growing support among establishment figures in mainland Europe.’

“Media outlets last year reported the ‘delight’ of former European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker at the news that both Mr Macron and Mrs Merkel had voiced their support. Mr Bassett added: ‘On November 13, Merkel, speaking to the European Parliament, had expressed unambiguously her support for a “real, true, European Army”. This echoed the strong commitment of Macron for a military wing to the EU. Macron had, somewhat farcically, earlier called for a European Army to protect the EU from Russia, China and the US, drawing a sharp rebuke from President Trump.’

“Mrs Merkel had returned to the theme during a ceremony to mark a new friendship treaty between France and Germany, signed in Aachen last January. Mr Bassett said: ‘She described the Treaty as another step forward towards the creation of a European Army. Now with the Brits departing, the push for a European Army will be much more difficult to stop.’”

A strong powerful European Army is clearly prophesied in the Bible.

The Third Temple and the End of the World

Express wrote on August 8:

“BIBLICAL prophecy states the construction of a Third Temple of Jerusalem will precede the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the end of the world as we know it…

“The Holy Temple of Jerusalem is at the heart of the Jewish faith in the Holy Land. To date, two temples have towered over the ancient city on the Temple Mount, only to be destroyed by invading forces. The First Temple was toppled in 586 BC by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, during his conquest of Jerusalem. The Second Temple was then razed by the Romans in the year 70 AD following a Jewish revolt. What remains of the Second Temple is an outer wall, the so-called Western Wall or Kotel, near Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. And with access for prayer barred to the Temple Mount’s al Aqsa Compound to non-Muslims, the Western Wall is considered the holiest of places of prayer in the Jewish world.

“But an expert believes plans are now well underway for a Third Temple to be constructed, and with it, comes the promise of biblical prophecy coming to fruition. Tom Meyer, a professor in Bible and theology at Shasta Bible College and Graduate School in California, US, told Express.co.uk groups like the Temple Institute are unwittingly paving the way for the Second Coming of Christ…

“Professor Tom Meyer [stated:] ‘A survey done by The Joint Forum of Temple Mount organizations in 2013 found that 43 percent of religious Jews and 31 percent of secular Jews supported the immediate reconstruction of Judaism’s most holy place. The human vehicle to bring this Biblical prophecy to fruition could come through not only changing the status quo to permit Jews to pray to YHWH on the Temple Mount – which 60 percent of Jews support – but also through organizations like The Temple Institute…’

“The Temple Institute exists in part to bring about… the Third Temple. It has received some funding from the Israeli government and donations from Jewish billionaires to achieve their objective. The organisation has already reconstructed all the necessary ritual objects needed for an animal sacrificial system like measuring cups, shovels, tongs, lavers, etc according to their ancient specifications. The Temple Institute has also not only begun educational programs to train young men who can prove their lineage through the line of Levi to function as priests in the future Temple, but they have also recreated all the necessary garments for the priesthood including the famous uniform of the High Priest, his breastplate and golden crown. The furniture to be placed inside the actual Temple like the table of shewbread, the altar of incense, and the golden menorah have already been completed… Blueprints have also been produced to set the stage if the construction of a Third Temple becomes a reality.

“Professor Meyer said: ‘Biblically speaking, the construction of a third Jewish Temple is a necessity because Biblical prophecy states that the Antichrist will first proclaim himself to be the true Messiah in the yet-to-be-built third Jewish Temple before the True Messiah appears.’”

It is clear from the Bible that a Third Temple will be erected prior to Christ’s return. We can see from the foregoing article that that time may be very near. Please read our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of the Jewish People.”

“Historic” Peace Agreement in Middle East

 JTA wrote on August 13:

 “As part of a peace deal brokered by President Donald Trump, Israel will pause its plans to annex areas of the West Bank, according to a joint statement released by the White House. ‘Israel will suspend declaring sovereignty over areas outlined in the President’s Vision for Peace and focus its efforts now on expanding ties with other countries in the Arab and Muslim world. The United States, Israel and the United Arab Emirates are confident that added diplomatic breakthroughs with other nations are possible, and will work together to achieve this goal,’ the statement read.

“The statement… said that Israel and the UAE will sign agreements in the coming weeks related to investment, tourism, air travel, security, opening embassies and more. The two nations also will work together on developing a vaccine for the coronavirus, it said…

“Most Arab countries do not recognize Israel’s existence. The Jewish state currently has ties only with Egypt and Jordan.”

For an in-depth analysis of this “peace deal” in connection with the building of the Third Temple, please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “The Third Temple, the End of the World, and the “Historic” Peace Deal.”

Dedollarization in Russia and China

RusNikkei Asian Review wrote on August 6:

“Russia and China are partnering to reduce their dependence on the dollar — a development some experts say could lead to a ‘financial alliance’ between them. In the first quarter of 2020, the dollar’s share of trade between Russia and China fell below 50% for the first time on record… The greenback was used for only 46% of settlements between the two countries. At the same time, the euro made up an all-time high of 30%, while their national currencies accounted for 24%, also a new high.

“Russia and China have drastically cut their use of the dollar in bilateral trade over the past several years. As late as 2015, approximately 90% of bilateral transactions were conducted in dollars. Following the outbreak of the U.S.-China trade war and a concerted push by both Moscow and Beijing to move away from the dollar, however, the figure had dropped to 51% by 2019…

“Replacing the dollar in trade settlements became a necessity to sidestep U.S. sanctions against Russia. ‘Any wire transaction that takes place in the world involving U.S. dollars is at some point cleared through a U.S. bank,’ explained Dmitry Dolgin, ING Bank’s chief economist for Russia. ‘That means that the U.S. government can tell that bank to freeze certain transactions.’ The process gained further momentum after the Donald Trump administration imposed tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods. Whereas previously Moscow had taken the initiative on dedollarization, Beijing came to view it as critical, too.”

The collaboration between China and Russia is happening on many different fronts, while their dependence on the American dollar is decreasing through a replacement with the euro and Chinese and Russian currencies. All of this is completely in line with biblical prophecies.

Trump’s Executive Order for Unemployment Benefits and Deferral of Payroll Tax

Newsmax wrote on August 9:

“President Donald Trump has bypassed the nation’s lawmakers as he claimed the authority to defer payroll taxes and replace an expired unemployment benefit with a lower amount after negotiations with Congress on a new coronavirus rescue package collapsed… his order called for up to $400 payments each week, one-third less than the $600 people had been receiving…

“Trump’s embrace of executive actions to sidestep Congress ran in sharp contrast to his criticism of former President Barack Obama’s use of executive orders…

“Trump said the employee portion of the payroll tax would be deferred from Aug. 1 through the end of the year… In essence, the deferral is an interest-free loan that would have to be repaid… ‘If I win, I may extend and terminate,’ Trump said, repeating a longtime goal but remaining silent on how he’d fund the Medicare and Social Security benefits that the 7% tax on employee income covers. Employers also pay 7.65% of their payrolls into the funds….”

Democrats have threatened legal action, with the possibility that a federal court might issue a preliminary injunction and a preliminary stay against enforcing the orders.

Joe Biden’s Pick of Kamala Harris as his Running Mate

The Associated Press wrote on August 11:

“Joe Biden named California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate on Tuesday, making history by selecting the first Black woman to compete on a major party’s presidential ticket and acknowledging the vital role Black voters will play in his bid to defeat President Donald Trump…

“Harris’ record as California attorney general and district attorney in San Francisco was heavily scrutinized during the Democratic primary and turned off some liberals and younger Black voters who saw her as out of step on issues of systemic racism in the legal system and police brutality…

“A woman has never served as president or vice president in the United States… The vice presidential pick carries increased significance this year. If elected, Biden would be 78 when he’s inaugurated in January, the oldest man to ever assume the presidency. He’s spoken of himself as a transitional figure and hasn’t fully committed to seeking a second term in 2024. If he declines to do so, his running mate would likely become a front-runner for the nomination that year.

“Born in Oakland to a Jamaican father and Indian mother… [one] of Harris’ standout moments of her presidential campaign came at the expense of Biden. During a debate, Harris said Biden made ‘very hurtful’ comments about his past work with segregationist senators and slammed his opposition to busing as schools began to integrate in the 1970s… Shaken by the attack, Biden called her comments ‘a mischaracterization of my position.’… Some Biden confidants said Harris’ campaign attack did irritate the former vice president, who had a friendly relationship with her. Harris was also close with Biden’s late son, Beau, who served as Delaware attorney general while she held the same post in California. But Biden and Harris have since returned to a warm relationship.”

The Biden campaign felt that Biden (or they) HAD to pick a black woman as running mate to please their supporters. Some in the press claim that she is an “Asian” woman to make the underlying politics less obvious. All of this is hypocritical politics. Candidates from the same party fight nastily as enemies during debates, and later work together “in friendship.”  This is true for Democrats as well as Republicans. That is why one cannot trust politicians.

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.

Withdrawal of US Troops from Germany Bad Sign

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 2:

“US former National Security Advisor John Bolton criticized President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Germany, in an interview with German newspaper Welt am Sonntag published on Sunday… The decision to remove some 12,000 troops out of Germany is ‘a sign – and not a good one – of what lies ahead if Trump is re-elected,’ he warned…

“In his book The Room Where It All Happened Bolton has accused Trump of putting his own political interests above national security interests and the well-being of the US… When it comes to national security, Trump ‘follows no political philosophy, no strategic thinking,’ the 71-year-old said. He added that the consequence now is that ‘we are less secure today than we were before his arrival in office.’”

In his book, Bolton cites numerous examples and incidents, which, if true, would indeed be of great concern.

The Bundeswehr to the Rescue?

Deutsche Welle wrote on July 31:

“Germany should do more for its own security, Defense Minister Annagret Kramp-Karrenbauer said [adding] she would hold talks after the summer break with the leaders of the affected German states to discuss ‘how the Bundeswehr can support the affected regions.’… It was not immediately clear how the German military would attempt to fill the gap left behind by the US departures.”

But that the thought is mentioned is more than interesting.

Almost Half of Germans Welcome Withdrawal of US Troops

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 4:

“Nearly half of people in Germany are in favor of a US plan to withdraw nearly 12,000 of its troops from the European country…  Some 47% of survey respondents said they supported reducing the number of US soldiers in Germany. One in four was in favor of all US soldiers leaving. Just 28% thought the number of US troops should remain the same and only 4% were in favor of increasing their numbers. Another 21% declined to answer…

“Of Germany’s six parliamentary groups, five oppose US troops leaving Germany. Only the country’s left-wing die Linke Party — which supports a complete withdrawal of all US troops — is in favor of the move. Voter opinion, however, tended to differ from that of the parties they support. People who generally vote for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU/CSU were largely against the troops leaving, with more than 40% opposed. Among supporters of all other parties, the majority was in favor of the withdrawal, to varying degrees.”

It would have been helpful if the article had explained as to WHY almost half of the Germans are favoring the withdrawal of the US troops. The result of the poll, all by itself, tells us little or next to nothing. But note the next article for a possible explanation.

US-German Relationship Beyond Repair

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on August 4:

“The notion that US-German relations during the pre-Trump era were exclusively cordial and free of controversy or recrimination is belied by the facts. The Cold War was largely defined by the division of Germany into East and West, and the resulting debate about German reunification between the US and the Soviet Union…

“The Ostpolitik policies of Chancellor Willy Brandt likewise frustrated US and NATO leaders, who saw West Germany’s efforts at détente with the Soviet Union, East Germany and other East Bloc European nations as a symptom of greater German independence from the dictates of NATO and the West. West Germany was ground zero for the anti-nuclear movement that swept Europe in the early 1980s following the US’ effort to deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles onto European soil. This came in response to the Soviet deployment of SS-20 missiles, which triggered the collapse of the government of Chancellor Helmut Schmidt due to a vote of no confidence.

“While the signing of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty in 1987, and the fall of the Berlin Wall and subsequent German reunification in 1989, helped repair US-West German relations, the US involvement in the Gulf War in 1990-91 did not receive German support. While Germany rallied behind the US in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, this support did not extend to the US’ decision to invade Iraq in 2003; German recalcitrance prompted then-Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld to belittle Germany as part of ‘Old Europe.’ Gerhard Schroeder, who served as German chancellor from 1998-2005, worked towards closer relations with Russia, especially in the field of energy – an action that raised the hackles of the US government.

“When President Barack Obama took office in 2009, many Germans believed that he would usher in an era of improved relations… only to be disappointed by the reality that the problems souring US-German relations were larger than one man. Successive spy scandals in 2013 and 2014 involving eavesdropping by the US on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone, and the recruitment by the CIA of senior German officials, only confirmed to many Germans the reality that the US did not view their nation as a friend, but rather a potential adversary. The US’ use of military bases in Germany to conduct armed drone attacks against targets in the Middle East likewise drew the ire of many Germans, who believed their sovereignty was violated by such actions.

“Seen in this light, the deterioration of US-German relations under President Trump is not a new phenomenon, but rather a continuation of a decades-long slide which finds the two nations at odds over critical policy issues involving international peace and security, European independence, and relations with Russia… Trump’s actions in ordering the withdrawal of US troops from Germany are… the byproduct of a dysfunctional US-German relationship that has been devolving for decades… The worsening relationship between the two countries is tied to a clash between American exceptionalism and German notions of European sovereignty, which no US or German leader can paper over with gestures and speeches…”

Please view our new StandingWatch program, “US German Friendship Has Ended! Are You WAKING UP???”  

Consequences of Nuclear Attack on Germany

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 5:

“A nuclear attack on Germany’s biggest cities would kill hundreds of thousands of people instantly… Tens of thousands more would be plagued by long-term illnesses such as cancer…

“Thursday marks the 75th anniversary of the date the US dropped a nuclear bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima during World War II, instantly killing over 70,000 people. It was the first nuclear weapon ever used in warfare…

“[A] simulation examines three potential scenarios in Germany, dpa reported. One considers the effects of a nuclear attack on Berlin, Germany’s political center and capital. A relatively small bomb with an explosive energy of 20 kilotons — equal to the explosive force of 20,000 tons of dynamite — would kill some 145,000 people immediately. Of these, 25,000 would be killed by the resulting pressure and heat wave while the other 120,000 would be killed by the effects of nuclear fallout radiation on the surrounding area. ‘In addition, there would be more than 50,000 later deaths due to cancer,’ the report said.

“The second scenario estimates that around half a million people would die instantly were a nuclear bomb weighing 550 kilotons to hit Frankfurt, Germany’s financial hub.  Just over half of the victims would be killed by the waves of heat and pressure as well as the immediate effects of radiation.

“A third scenario considers the effects of an attack on Germany’s Büchel airbase in western Germany, where… the US is storing nuclear weapons with an explosive force of 170 kilotons each. In such a case, the software estimated a total of 130,000 immediate deaths, with around 107,000 due fallout radiation…

“In an act of protest against nuclear weapons, Greenpeace on Wednesday flew a hot air balloon near the Büchel airbase. ‘Mass killings like those caused by the atomic bomb on Hiroshima must never happen again,’ Greenpeace spokesman for nuclear disarmament, Christoph von Lieven said Wednesday. The German government must ensure that not only are US soldiers withdrawn from Germany… but nuclear bombs as well, he added.”

A nuclear attack on German cities is prophesied.

Conservatives Unhappy with Trump

npr wrote on July 31:

“After voting for President Trump in 2016 and staunchly defending him in conservative publications… Steven Calabresi, co-founder of the powerful conservative legal organization, is now calling on the House of Representatives to do again what it has already done once this year: impeach Trump.

“In a scathing opinion piece in The New York Times published online Thursday, the Northwestern University law professor points to what ignited his newfound ire with the president: a tweet Trump sent out shortly after news broke Thursday morning that the U.S. economy had suffered its biggest recorded contraction ever last quarter. ‘With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA… Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???’ Calabresi declared himself ‘appalled’ by the tweet, which he characterized as ‘seeking to postpone the November election.’

“‘Until recently, I had taken as political hyperbole the Democrats’ assertion that President Trump is a fascist,’ the conservative legal scholar wrote. ‘But this latest tweet is fascistic and is itself grounds for the president’s immediate impeachment again by the House of Representatives and his removal from office by the Senate.’

“It was a remarkable turnaround for a man who as recently as November had accused House Democrats of conducting an ‘unconstitutional’ and ‘Kafkaesque “trial”’ in their Trump impeachment proceedings… ‘President Trump needs to be told by every Republican in Congress that he cannot postpone the federal election. Doing so would be illegal, unconstitutional and without precedent in American history,’ Calabresi warned. ‘Anyone who says otherwise should never be elected to Congress again.’

“Calabresi’s public distancing from the 45th president was applauded by other conservatives critical of Trump… Former national security adviser John Bolton…tweeted that Calabresi’s op-ed was ‘a must-read.’

“Trump, for his part, did not directly respond to his one-time ally’s demand that he be re-impeached. Instead, the president sought to portray his provocative suggestion that the election be delayed as stirring a needed public debate.”

Of course, Trump’s original tweet speaks for itself. We won’t comment as to whether it, all by itself, would be sufficient grounds for impeachment. We would state, however, that Bolton makes a strong case for impeachment in his book stating alleged facts which, if true, would go far beyond the Democrats’ botched and incompetent attempts of impeachment which were destined to failure from the outset.

Trump and Putin—Mussolini and Hitler?

Breitbart wrote on August 2:

“[In] Sunday on CNN’s ‘State of the Union,’ House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) said [this about Donald Trump and Putin:]

“‘I feel very strongly that he is Mussolini. Putin is Hitler… I don’t think he plans to leave the White House. He doesn’t plan to have a fair election. I believe that he plans to install himself in some kind of emergency way to continue [to] hold on to office. That is why the American people had better wake up. I know a little bit about history, and I know how countries find their demise…’”

A modern “Hitler” will manifest himself soon, but not in the USA or Russia, but in Europe. A modern “Mussolini” might very well arise there as well.

China, Russia and Iran

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 1:

“China and Iran [are] in the process of negotiating a 25-year strategic agreement… [which] is apparently close to being signed… The deal foresees not only an economic partnership worth billions but also close military cooperation… China sees Iran as a major market for its commodities — and as a source of oil. Iran, for its part, hopes Chinese investments and its own exports will lessen some of the economic pressure of ongoing US sanctions.

“Tehran’s move toward Beijing is partly a reaction to the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear agreement… But the US isn’t the only reason… Tehran is also disappointed that the Europeans have not lived up to their economic commitments…

“China and Russia were the only two countries that had maintained their economic ties with Iran, leading the Iranian government to see expanded ties with these two powers as the only viable option to save its economy from collapse. At the same time… Iranian politicians increasingly had the impression that US power and international standing had begun to decline under President Donald Trump… Together with Russia, Iran has resolutely supported Syrian President Bashar Assad throughout the country’s civil war — and China has consistently backed their actions at the UN Security Council.”

This anti-Western cooperation is remarkable in light of the fact that at the beginning of the Millennium, it will be these and other powers which will try to invade the Promised Land, where the modern descendants of the houses of Israel (USA, UK, Canada and others) and Judah (the Jews) will live by that time.

Annexation Not Off the Table… Washington Being Blamed for Delay

The Times of Israel wrote on August 3:

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday told his Likud faction meeting that Israel’s planned annexation of West Bank land is not off the table, but is being held up by the US administration. Netanyahu had declared his intention to move forward with the partial annexation of the West Bank, under the auspices of the US peace plan, from July 1, but that date came and went without any movement on the matter, and in recent weeks, the prime minister has been largely silent on the issue.

“Reports in recent months have indicated that the White House has cooled on the Israeli proposal, amid the raging coronavirus pandemic, race protests, upcoming national elections, and other considerations. The White House has said repeatedly that it is up to Israel to decide on annexation, but has yet to give a definitive answer as to whether it is prepared to support and recognize the unilateral annexation now of part or all of the 30 percent of the West Bank allocated to Israel in its peace plan. That would include all of the settlements along with the strategic Jordan Valley…

“Last month, Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin acknowledged in private conversations that no attention is currently being given in Washington to Israeli annexation plans, according to an Army Radio report. The US administration’s attention is elsewhere, the report claimed Levin had said, and ‘it is not listening’ when it comes to annexation.”

This would be in line with Trump’s constantly wavering positions which Bolton describes in his book. On the other hand, Trump may not be able to afford silence much longer on the issue of Israeli annexation.

Lebanon Explosion

The Economic Collapse wrote on August 4:

“2020 just keeps getting weirder.  On Tuesday, an absolutely massive explosion caused a red mushroom cloud to rise high over the city of Beirut, Lebanon.  It is being called ‘Beirut’s Hiroshima’, and the blast was heard as far away as Cyprus… It appears that the shockwave did even more damage than the initial explosion did, and at this hour a large portion of the city of Beirut lies in ruins…  It is being reported that Beirut’s port ‘is totally destroyed’, and this comes at a really bad time because Lebanon is already in the midst of an epic economic collapse… many eyewitnesses are comparing the blast to a nuclear explosion… ‘This reminds me of what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki,’ said Beirut Governor Marwan Aboud. ‘I have never seen such widespread destruction. This is a national catastrophe. This is a disaster for Lebanon…’

“Over the past couple of years, there have been so many moments when it seemed like a major war could break out at any time in the Middle East.  And here in 2020, tensions are running higher than ever… It appears that it is just a matter of time before a huge war erupts in the Middle East, and it certainly isn’t going to take much to trigger one. So could this explosion push the region over the edge?

“Let us hope not, but without a doubt this blast is not going to help matters. The devastation that we just witnessed has caused great pain and anger in Lebanon, and terror groups such as Hezbollah will inevitably try to channel all of that pain and anger in a way that furthers their ultimate goals.”

A terrible war in the Middle East is prophesied to occur soon.

An Attack?

Breitbart reported on August 4:

“President Donald Trump reacted to the massive explosion in Beirut, Lebanon, on the capital city’s waterfront. ‘It looks like a terrible attack,’ Trump said during a press conference at the White House on Tuesday. He said that he met with his generals to discuss the explosion and they estimated the explosion was an attack. ‘This was not some kind of manufacturing explosion type of event,’ Trump said. ‘This was a – seems to be, according to them. They would know better than I would. They seem to think it was an attack. It was a bomb of some kind, yes.’… The Lebanese government confirmed that ‘highly explosive materials’ were stored in the area where the explosion occurred.”

Deutsche Welle added on August 4:

“Israel said it had nothing to do with the explosion, urging ‘caution around speculation.’ Hezbollah also said it had no indication of Israeli involvement.”

The Pardon of Assisi

Vatican News reported on August 2:

“Pope Francis invited everyone to receive the ‘Pardon of Assisi’, which can be obtained from the evening of 1 August until midnight on 2 August… ‘It is a plenary indulgence that may be received by partaking of the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist and visiting a parish or Franciscan church, reciting the Creed, the Lord’s prayer and praying for the Pope and his intentions,’ the Pope pointed out. He recalled that the indulgence can even be obtained for a deceased person…

“The ‘Pardon of Assisi’ dates back to 1216, when Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and angels appeared before St. Francis. The apparition took place in the tiny Portiuncula, the chapel Francis had built in the Italian town of Assisi. When Jesus asked him [what] he desired for the salvation of souls, St. Francis asked for God to grant a plenary indulgence for all those who enter the chapel. The indulgence was later extended to anyone who visits a parish or Franciscan church on 1 August or 2 August.”

This is so blasphemous and idolatrous.

“The Lockdown Lunacy”

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on August 1:

“Well, the Virus Patrol sure has done it. In a fit of reckless overkill they have managed to vaporize six years of economic growth during the last 90 days… The real damage is far deeper, however, and is reflected in millions of small businesses permanently destroyed, tens of millions of households wiped-out financially and the vicious daisy chain of delinquencies, deferrals and defaults just beginning to rip through the $78 trillion edifice of debt which entombs the US economy…

“What is happening is an economic catastrophe the likes of which we have never seen before, even during the Great Depression of the 1930s. In fact, the worst annual decline back then was a 14.8 percent drop in 1932, while the entire peak-to-trough real GDP decline between 1929 and the 1933 bottom was 30.5 percent. So it would be fair to say that measured at an annualized rate, … Dr. Fauci and his Virus Patrol have now delivered a 32.9 percent GDP plunge, which single-handedly tops the entire contraction of the Great Depression…

“One manifestation of the Covid-Hysteria is the soaring level of ‘testing’ going on as people either try to get a hall pass in order to return to work or just plain run to the nearest testing station every time the media sends off new alarm bells. During April, for instance, which was the very worst month of the contagion in terms of serious illnesses and deaths, 5.2 million new tests were reported or 175,000 per day. By contrast, in July to date (thru the 29th), there have been 21.5 million new tests reported or an average of 745,000 per day. In a population that has been thoroughly exposed to the virus after five months, it is a given that with the number of tests soaring, the number of positive cases will rise proportionately.

“But that’s a misdirection because the real issue is the true medical severity of the new cases, and that has dropped precipitously. The death rate has dropped from 1,800 per day in April to 780 in July; and whereas 15-20 percent of new cases were being hospitalized in most states during April, that figure has now fallen to 2-4 percent…”

Why then the hysteria and more and more recommendations for lockdowns (which is pointed out below in additional articles)?

No Masks in the Netherlands

Daily Mail wrote on August 1:

“… while 120 countries in the world, including much of Europe, have ordered citizens to wear masks in public places to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the Dutch are doing things differently.

“The nation’s top scientists, having examined key data and research, have declared there is no firm evidence to back the use of face coverings. Indeed, they argue that wearing the wretched things may actually hamper the fight against disease…

“’Face masks in public places are not necessary, based on all the current evidence,’ said Coen Berends, spokesman for the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment. ‘There is no benefit and there may even be negative impact.’…

“Holland’s position is based on assessments by the Outbreak Management Team, a group of experts advising the government. It first ruled against masks in May and has re-evaluated the evidence several times, including again last week….

“The World Health Organisation has also been sceptical, warning that ‘widespread use of masks by healthy people in the community setting is not yet supported by high-quality or direct scientific evidence’. Although changing its advice in June to back the encouragement of mask wearing in some settings, the WHO lists 11 ‘potential harms’ that range from discomfort through to self-contamination and lower compliance with more critical preventative measures.”

And so, the debate among scientists goes on… but who is right, and who is wrong?

Wearing Masks

Target Liberty wrote on August 5:

“Governments in many parts of the land [USA] have ordered mask-wearing to ‘battle’ a virus that is about as deadly to the average American under 80 as hay fever. The mask-wearing order has resulted in near 100% compliance in such areas as California. It is a sign of cowering submission to the state [with] an added bonus of neighbors, and other busybodies, backing up the state orders with rants and rages for [those] who do not wear masks…

“The mask-wearing edicts are a relatively minor burden for those… who aren’t required to wear masks all day, but we don’t know what is coming down the road in terms of future tyranny. It is very important to learn now how to deal with different situations for the future when the stakes might be much higher.”

And that is VERY true.

The Fight for the Vaccine

The Associated Press wrote on August 2:

“Who gets to be first in line for a COVID-19 vaccine?… Traditionally, first in line for a scarce vaccine are health workers and the people most vulnerable to the targeted infection… For all the promises of the U.S. stockpiling millions of doses, the hard truth: Even if a vaccine is declared safe and effective by year’s end, there won’t be enough for everyone who wants it right away — especially as most potential vaccines require two doses.

“It’s a global dilemma. The World Health Organization is grappling with the same who-goes-first question as it tries to ensure vaccines are fairly distributed to poor countries — decisions made even harder as wealthy nations corner the market for the first doses…

“How to decide? The CDC’s opening suggestion: First vaccinate 12 million of the most critical health, national security and other essential workers. Next would be 110 million people at high risk from the coronavirus — those over 65 who live in long-term care facilities, or those of any age who are in poor health — or who also are deemed essential workers. The general population would come later…

“And it may be worth vaccinating entire families rather than trying to single out just one high-risk person in a household… Whoever gets to go first, a mass vaccination campaign while people are supposed to be keeping their distance is a tall order…”

None of that sounds too promising or reassuring.

Blue Blood of the Horseshoe Crabs for Coronavirus Vaccines

National Geographic wrote on July 6:

“Each spring… hundreds of thousands of horseshoe crabs clamber onto beaches to lay their eggs… For drug companies, it’s a crucial resource for making human medicines safe. That’s because their blue blood… provides the only known natural source of limulus amebocyte lysate, a substance that detects a contaminant called endotoxin. If even tiny amounts of endotoxin—a type of bacteria—make their way into vaccines, injectable drugs, or other sterile pharmaceuticals such as artificial knees and hips, the results can be deadly…

“Every year, pharmaceutical companies round up half a million Atlantic horseshoe crabs, bleed them, and return them to the ocean— after which many will die… Catching crabs and harvesting their blood is time-consuming, and the resulting lysate costs £48,000 per gallon.

“In 2016, a synthetic alternative to crab lysate, recombinant factor C (rFC), was approved as an alternative in Europe, and a handful of U.S. drug companies also began using it. But on June 1, 2020, the American Pharmacopeia, which sets the scientific standards for drugs and other products in the U.S., declined to place rFC on equal footing with crab lysate, claiming that its safety is still unproven.

“Starting in July, Swiss-based Lonza will begin manufacturing a COVID-19 vaccine for human clinical trials—and they’ll have to use lysate in the vaccine if they plan to sell it in the U.S…. conservationists fear that without rFC or other alternatives available, the ongoing burden on horseshoe crab blood for COVID-19 vaccines and related therapeutics may imperil the crabs and the marine ecosystems that depend on them.”

This sounds like a weird story from a science fiction novel.

Huge Demonstration in Germany Against Corona Restrictions

The Associated Press wrote on August 1:

“Thousands protested Germany’s coronavirus restrictions Saturday in a Berlin demonstration marking what organizers called ‘the end of the pandemic’… With few masks in sight, a dense crowd marched through downtown Berlin from the Brandenburg Gate. Protesters who came from across the country held up homemade signs with slogans like ‘Corona, false alarm,’ ‘We are being forced to wear a muzzle,’ ‘Natural defense instead of vaccination’ and ‘We are the second wave.’ They chanted, ‘We’re here and we’re loud, because we are being robbed of our freedom!’

“Police estimated about 17,000 people turned out… Protesters continued to a subsequent rally on a boulevard running through the city’s Tiergarten park, which police estimated drew 20,000 people.”

AFP wrote on August 1:

“Several politicians condemned the demonstration… Health Minister Jens Spahn [stated]: ‘Yes, demonstrations should also be possible in times of coronavirus, but not like this. Distance, hygiene rules and masks serve to protect us all…’”

Many on social media and those who were there claim that the actual figure of demonstrators was from 500,000 up to 1,3 Million. This figure has been disputed as a gross exaggeration. Still, what we are beginning to see is a possible confrontation between the Merkel government and Germans who are opposed to governmental restrictions. Several AfD representatives [from the opposition party] participated in the protest and were interviewed.

“Germans Are Waking Up. Americans Still Asleep”

Ron Paul wrote on August 3 in the Ron Paul Institute:

“Tens of thousands of Germans marched through Berlin on Saturday, proclaiming a ‘Day of Freedom’ and demanding an end to government-mandated face masks and ‘social distancing.’ The UK and Netherlands also saw large protests against their governments’ tyrannical actions in response to the coronavirus outbreak… the Berlin protesters held signs reading ‘We are being forced to wear a muzzle,’ ‘Natural defense instead of vaccination,’ and ‘We are making noise because you are stealing our freedom!’

“Good for them!

“The New York Times tweeted that the masses of Berlin demonstrators were all ‘Nazis’ and ‘conspiracy theorists.’ Does the ‘paper of record’ really want us to believe there were perhaps a million Nazis active in the streets of Berlin? Wouldn’t that be alarming?

“The fact is, Europeans are realizing that their government-mandated lockdowns did little or nothing to protect them from the virus, while causing economic catastrophe and untold human suffering. They likely looked around and noticed that Sweden, which never locked down its economy, rejected face masks, and kept its restaurants and other places of business open, did not fare any worse than the countries that have been turned into open air prisons for much of the year. In fact, Sweden had a lower death rate from the virus than strict lockdown states like the UK and France. No wonder people are starting to get angry.

“Unfortunately, while the Europeans are waking up, Americans are still asleep as our freedoms continue to be trampled. While Europeans demand an end to government tyranny, here we see states with minuscule new deaths returning to lockdown. It is as if all the wannabe tyrants from mayors to governors are finally realizing their secret dreams of ruling by decree. Their dreams are our nightmares!

“New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy put citizens ‘on notice’ that he will lock the state back down if people dare to go outside without a face mask or even to have guests inside their own homes!… The US government is dumping billions into a vaccine that may be less than 60 percent effective to prevent a virus that has something like a 99.8 percent survival rate. What kind of math is that?… the US government has just granted big pharma immunity from liability claims if the vaccine produces damaging side effects.

“They keep moving the goal posts to keep us terrified and isolated. First it was body counts and then ‘cases.’ The numbers have been so wildly off that it’s hard to trust any reporting. People are getting angry. They are confused. They are facing an economic depression of historic proportions. But worst of all, they are watching as Leviathan government snatches every last bit of freedom.

“Three cheers for the Europeans! Let’s hope America wakes up soon!”

The reports by the left-wing mass media (and also by conservative outlets such as mass tabloid Bild and others) about the demonstrations by labeling all of the protestors as Nazis was so foolish and so predictable. Let us also point out that the German and the European governments will not be silent either. They are determined to fight back and suppress any “dissenters” under the pretense of “public health.” Notice the next articles.

German Government Threatens Those Who Disagree

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 1:

“Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said he wants tougher penalties for coronavirus rule breakers. ‘Anyone who deliberately endangers others must expect that this will have serious consequences for him,’ Altmaier told the DPA news agency. ‘We must not jeopardize the recovery that is just beginning by accepting a further increase in infections.’…

“The chief minister of Saxony-Anhalt state, Reiner Haseloff, warns against a new lockdown. ‘We cannot afford a second lockdown,’ Haseloff [said Saturday]. ‘Our economy would hardly be able to cope with that and in the end, it would also have a negative effect on the welfare state and its stability,’ he said.”

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 3:

“Saturday’s huge demo in Berlin against Germany’s coronavirus measures has raked up a new debate about the boundaries between the right to assemble and the protection of public health… By Monday, several German politicians had taken to their favored media outlets to condemn the demonstrators…

“In Germany, it’s up to local authorities to make the conditions under which demonstrations are permitted — though their hands are tied to a great extent by the German constitution, which enshrines the right to demonstrate except when demos turn violent, if participants are carrying weapons, or if their faces are covered (which of course raises its own legal headache in the coronavirus age)…

“Paulina Starski, a senior research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, explained that the authorities can only shut down demonstrations if there’s a direct danger to public security… Of course, among the rules the police currently has to enforce are social distancing guidelines — so there are dangers to public security inherent during the outbreak of a highly contagious virus…

“The courts, meanwhile, have a duty to guard against constitutional violations, and, as Starski explained, will often side with people’s rights rather than the police if there is doubt — partly a lesson learned during Germany’s dark authoritarian past. As Starski added, there is certainly a danger that authorities could use coronavirus prevention measures to curtail constitutional freedoms. ‘Absolutely,’ she said. ‘The new rules during the hard lockdown led to a situation where the freedom of assembly was to a large extent de facto suspended…’”

Restrictions can be expected again and despite the questionable propaganda according to which most people allegedly welcome those, many will not do so for sure. Note the next article.

Shocking News from the UK

Express wrote on August 2:

“The Prime Minister was told by scientific advisers too much mingling between family groups is the main cause of an alarming rise in infections. It comes after Mr Johnson was forced to announce a slow down of the lockdown…

“Large swathes of the North of England were also told on Thursday night they were not allowed to enter other people’s homes. The shock announcement was made by Health Secretary Matt Hancock at 9pm on Twitter, and told over 4million people in areas of Greater Manchester, parts of West Yorkshire and East Lancashire separate households were no longer allowed to meet indoors.”

And so, we are afraid that in the UK under Boris Johnson’s wavering leadership, irresponsible lockdowns will be starting again.

News from Melbourne, Australia

Our local elder, Paul Niehoff, sent us the following report on August 2:

“At the moment about 600 people are being infected daily. Around 10 are dying, mostly in aged care homes. The premier has stated publicly on TV that he would not want to put his mother in one of these homes as their conditions are so bad. The premier has also declared a ‘state of disaster’ and a curfew from 8 pm till 5 am daily.

“The premier has now closed or dramatically reduced nearly all industry in Melbourne. It is estimated that 250,000 workers will be stood down for the next six weeks, with no promise of the shutdown ending then. All non-essential retail will go on-line. Some can order on-line and collect outside the store. Hair dressers and lawn mowing and garden maintenance are banned totally. Meat working plants are reduced in capacity by 33%, with all staff in full protective clothing. Construction sites are dramatically reduced in number of workers on site. Bottle shops will remain open. When I went shopping yesterday, at the first supermarket, absolutely all of the minced meat had gone. The second one did have minced meat available. But it shows how quickly food can disappear from the shelves.

“For healthy people, only one household member may go shopping each day. A disabled person may have an assistant but they must be separated. Outdoor exercise is allowed for a maximum of one hour per day. Shopping is limited to 5 kilometres radius unless the nearest supermarket is over that distance. Funerals can have 10 guests not including the officials. Weddings are banned although there may be compassionate exemptions. Acts of parliament have been suspended and police given greater powers.”

The last sentence should be of great concern.

Dr. Fauci Unwilling to Answer Jim Jordan

Breitbart wrote on July 31:

“Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) grilled Dr. Anthony Fauci during a House panel hearing Friday over whether the government should limit ongoing protests, like it has other activities, for fueling the spread of the coronavirus. ‘I’m not in a position to determine what the government can do in a forceful way,’ a visibly uncomfortable Fauci… said in responding to Jordan’s questions… ‘You make all kinds of recommendations,’ Jordan noted. ‘You made comments on dating, on baseball, on everything you can imagine … you just said that protesting increased the spread. I’m just asking, should we try to limit the protesting?’ ‘No, I think I would leave that to people who have more of a position to do that,’ Fauci… said…

“The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects both the freedoms to protest, and of religion, Jordan argued. He also noted that the government prevents some people from going to work to help hinder the spread of the virus. ‘Government is stopping people from going to church, Dr. Fauci,’ the Ohio Republican pointed out, later adding, ‘You’ve advocated for certain businesses to be shut down.’ Jordan asked, ‘Is there a world where the Constitution says you can favor one First Amendment liberty, protesting, over another, practicing your faith?’…”

Newsweek wrote on August 1:

“Tucker Carlson has once again criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci, this time over the infectious diseases expert’s answer before Congress to a question about the wisdom of protesters gathering in large numbers… Carlson praised Jordan for his questioning, saying, ‘There is nothing Dr. Anthony Fauci won’t opine on as long as it doesn’t offend the popular and fashionable left.’

“Carlson went on to say: ‘Fauci is 79, but maybe if he had like 22-year-old kids who were trying to make their way in this world in an economy that is headed down the tubes, thanks largely to his recommendations, he would feel differently. It’s not merely an inconvenience when your economy collapses. It’s the end of the American dream. That’s not a small thing…’

“Earlier this week, Carlson gave Fauci both barrels in a segment in which he called him ‘a hypocritical buffoon who refuses to admit what he clearly doesn’t know,’ adding that, ‘if you say that out loud they will cancel you… criticize Fauci, and you will disappear from the Internet.’

“Fauci enjoys considerable trust among Americans about his approach to the coronavirus. A poll in July showed that two-thirds of the public, or 67 percent, expressed trust in the public health official’s information about the pandemic…”

This poll, if true, does not speak much for an informed opinion of trust in a man who has made numerous wrong predictions and who has given numerous wrong recommendations.

In a somewhat related development, “America’s Frontline Doctors” did a video program last week in front of the US Supreme Court describing their practice of prescribing hydroxychloroquine for their patients with almost 100% success. They also were taking it themselves, just one or two tablets a week, and not catching the virus even though only wearing a mask and no other protective equipment. The video had over 17 million views before being taken down by Twitter etc. Anyone who put the video on their website had their website taken down also. It is available on small non-censored sites but most people would never find them and if someone tweeted the address of these websites, they were also taken down.

While Trump advocates the use of the medication for coronavirus treatment, Fauci opposes it, saying it has no effect and could even be dangerous. Note the next article.

Trump vs. Fauci and Birx

Mediaite wrote on August 3:

“President Donald Trump attacked Dr. Deborah Birx for the first time on Monday, in an apparent response to her warning that the United States is entering a ‘new phase’ of the coronavirus pandemic. ‘So Crazy Nancy Pelosi said horrible things about Dr. Deborah Birx, going after her because she was too positive on the very good job we are doing on combatting the China Virus, including Vaccines & Therapeutics. In order to counter Nancy, Deborah took the bait & hit us. Pathetic!’

“Trump was responding to Birx’s Sunday interview with CNN’s Dana Bash… Birx also used the opportunity to respond to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who reportedly accused her of helping Trump spread pandemic misinformation. Birx mostly shrugged off Pelosi’s criticisms by saying she had ‘tremendous respect’ for her. After that, Birx reaffirmed that she has seen alarming new pandemic data across the U.S.

“It also comes two days after Trump pronounced Dr. Anthony Fauci ‘wrong!’ for warning about the recent outbreaks that have happened. Trump repeatedly trashed Fauci in the past, but this appears to be the first time he has publicly gone after Birx.”

Now Dr. Fauci is also recommending to at least some states in the USA to reconsider lockdowns, while Dr. Birx is recommending that at least some people (being part of a family) should wear masks in their homes. What a time of confusion and lack of clarity and reliability. Fauci and Birx belong to Trump’s team. If Trump has no confidence in them, he should fire them.

No Public Charge Rule During Coronavirus Pandemic

Newsmax wrote on July 30:

“The Trump administration’s ‘public charge’ rule – which makes it more difficult for immigrants to obtain legal status if they use public benefits – cannot be implemented during the coronavirus pandemic, a federal judge ruled… [He] issued a nationwide injunction halting enforcing of the requirements. The matter is now likely to be heard by the Supreme Court, which in January voted 5-4 to move forward with the plan – but that was prior to the pandemic.

“The Department of Homeland Security started enforcing the rule in February. A group of state attorney generals from New York and other states had asked the court to issue an injunction against the rule, but their request was denied. In his opinion, Daniels wrote that since that ruling in April, the COVID-19 pandemic has gotten worse and ‘the irreparable harm and public interests that warrant an injunction have come into sharper focus.’ ‘We no longer need to imagine the worst-case scenario; we are experiencing its dramatic effects in real time,’ he wrote.

“Green card applicants who relied on social services as their primary means of financial support in the past could be denied permanent residency under what is known as the ‘public charge’ rule…”

Public Bible Burning in Oregon

Daily Wire wrote on August 1:

“Left-wing activists rioted in Portland on Friday night where they burned Bibles, set fires in the street, and tore protective boarding off of buildings… Numerous journalists who were on the ground said that the left-wing activists were trying to provoke a response from the federal agents inside…

“President Donald Trump announced late Friday night, ‘Homeland Security is not leaving Portland until local police complete cleanup of Anarchists and Agitators!’’

Violence All Around Us

The Week wrote on July 31:

“All week I’ve been haunted by a brief few seconds of video posted on Twitter late Sunday night by a student journalist in Eugene, Oregon. Two men face off at a protest — the one standing on the left is demonstrating for Black Lives Matter; the one on the right, sitting in a pickup truck, is a counter-protester. Each is pointing a handgun at the other’s face at point blank range. That’s us. That’s America during the long, hot summer of 2020…

“I see so much anger around me — at the grocery store, while driving, on television, online…

“So how does it play out? What if the next time opposing protesters point guns at each other’s faces, one of them pulls the trigger?…”

Frightening.

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.

Another Unconstitutional Supreme Court Decision

The Week wrote on July 25:

“The Supreme Court on Friday denied a petition from Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley in Dayton, Nevada, claiming a state policy limiting in-person church attendance to 50 during the coronavirus violated the Constitution. Chief Justice John Roberts was the swing vote in the 5-4 decision, joining the court’s liberal justices. As is typical in such cases, the majority did not provide a reason for the rejection.

“The bench’s conservative wing, meanwhile, dissented, emphasizing the church’s argument that houses of worship were treated differently from other places where large gatherings take place, including casinos, gyms, and restaurants. ‘The world we inhabit today, with a pandemic upon us, poses unusual challenges,’ Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote. ‘But there is no world in which the Constitution permits Nevada to favor Caesars Palace over Calvary Chapel.’”

Fox News reported on July 24:

“Nevada has placed a 50-person cap on all places of worship, no matter the capacity of the building, as a part of the state’s coronavirus restrictions. But casinos, along with other businesses such as restaurants and movie theaters, may permit up to 50 percent capacity, allowing casinos to grant access to hundreds of patrons at a time.

“Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh all issued dissenting opinions rejecting the constitutionality of the decision… ‘In my view, Nevada’s discrimination against religious services violates the Constitution,’ Kavanaugh wrote Friday…”

CLEARLY it does.

Conservatives Outraged over Roberts’ Vote

Bloomberg wrote on July 25:

“‘John Roberts has abandoned his oath,’ Senator Ted Cruz, Republican from Texas, said in a tweet… Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, also piled on, wondering ‘what happened to that judge?’ and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, a former Republican Congressman, called it ‘a sad day.’…

The recent pattern of Chief Justice Roberts’ siding with the liberal Supreme Court judges in rendering anti-conservative political decisions has become very manifest. America is destroying itself from the inside in just about every conceivable area.

Churches Defy Cal. Governor Newsom

Breitbart wrote on July 25:

“Two churches in California are defying Gov. Gavin Newsom’s orders to keep their doors closed because of the coronavirus, including Grace Community Church in a Los Angeles suburb, where Pastor John MacArthur posted a letter on Friday titled, ‘Christ, Not Caesar, Is Head of the Church.’… The letter reads, in part:

“‘Christ is Lord of all. He is the one true head of the church… He is also King of kings—sovereign over every earthly authority… Grace Community Church has always stood immovably on those biblical principles. As His people, we are subject to His will and commands as revealed in Scripture. Therefore we cannot and will not acquiesce to a government-imposed moratorium on our weekly congregational worship or other regular corporate gatherings. Compliance would be disobedience to our Lord’s clear commands.

“‘Some will think such a firm statement is inexorably in conflict with the command to be subject to governing authorities laid out in Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2. Scripture does mandate careful, conscientious obedience to all governing authority, including kings, governors, employers, and their agents (in Peter’s words, ‘not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable’)… Insofar as government authorities do not attempt to assert ecclesiastical authority or issue orders that forbid our obedience to God’s law, their authority is to be obeyed whether we agree with their rulings or not. In other words, Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 still bind the consciences of individual Christians…

“‘When any government official issues orders regulating worship (such as bans on singing, caps on attendance, or prohibitions against gatherings and services), he steps outside the legitimate bounds of his God-ordained authority as a civic official and arrogates to himself authority that God expressly grants only to the Lord Jesus Christ…

“‘Therefore, in response to the recent state order requiring churches in California to limit or suspend all meetings indefinitely, we, the pastors and elders of Grace Community Church, respectfully inform our civic leaders that they have exceeded their legitimate jurisdiction, and faithfulness to Christ prohibits us from observing the restrictions they want to impose on our corporate worship services.’

“The letter said the church does not need the state’s permission to hold church services and urged other congregations to follow suit. ‘Our prayer is that every faithful congregation will stand with us in obedience to our Lord as Christians have done through the centuries,’ the letter concluded.

“[MacArthur’s] letter comes weeks after Calvary Church Chino Hills, also a Southern California congregation, opened its door for service on May 31, Pentecost Sunday — the holy day that celebrates the anointing of the church by the Holy Spirit 50 days after Christ’s resurrection. ‘The church transcends the governments of this world and the politics of this world because the church is a living, breathing, divine institution,’ Pastor Jack Hibbs said in a video addressing other pastors about the lockdown and announcing the decision to reopen the church….”

Please read our free booklet, “Obeying God rather than Men”

Religious Persecution in Israel

Breaking Israel News wrote on July 27:

“The Shaarei Shalom (gates of peace) rabbinical court in Bet Shemesh, headed by Rabbi Nussbaum and Rabbi Wosner, issued a rabbinic proclamation last Thursday.

“‘To our fellow Jews around the world, we are currently in days of confusion and crisis, in which wicked governments impose their heavy yoke upon the God-fearing with all sorts of strange decrees: closures of houses of study and worship, the shutdown of schools and yeshivot (Torah learning institutions), decrees banning ritual baths that prevent the purity of the Jewish people. At their right-hand stands the so-called “religious” parties to support them in these nefarious deeds of destruction.’

“‘To all these unscrupulous individuals we say: Fear the Day of Judgement! Know that there is judgment and a Judge, and for all these things God will bring you to justice. How could you not have trembled when you agreed to the closure of Talmud Torah, schools where children learn Torah?… Innumerable testimonies have been presented before the Rabbinic Court attesting that the entire decree concerning masks is for vanity and uselessness, and is not necessary from a medical point of view.’

“When the prohibitions against the observance of the mitzvoth is with the intention of causing the Jews to abandon their faith, Jews are required to reject the anti-Torah decrees for even the smallest and most insignificant detail… even at the risk of endangering their lives. (Sanhedrin 74b).

“This classification was used in the second century under Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Hellenistic king of the Seleucid Empire. It was also declared under the Roman occupation of Israel, and during the Crusades of 1096.

“‘And there is no greater time of danger than what we are facing at the present,’ the rabbis wrote.”

We could not disagree with that assessment.  

Britain Reimposes Quarantine on Travel to Spain

Daily Mail reported on July 26:

“Dominic Raab refused to apologise for reimposing quarantine on travel to Spain today despite the fury of British holidaymakers who have already headed to the Costas. The Foreign Secretary defended the decision by the Department for Transport to remove the country from a list of safe destinations in the wake of a spike in coronavirus cases.

“The decision has left the estimated 600,000 British holidaymakers already in Spain or those preparing to fly out ‘panicking’ about a fortnight-long home quarantine when they return to the UK – which could leave some unable to work….

“Meanwhile Spain’s Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya has today hit back and declared Spain ‘safe for tourists’ and refused to comment on whether the country will retaliate with similar measures on incoming British holidaymakers…

“Labour blasted the decision, which came into effect at midnight, as ‘shambolic’ after it emerged that even Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and business minister Paul Scully had been caught out by the speed of the move while on Spanish holidays.”

Deutsche Welle added on July 26:

“TUI, Europe’s biggest holiday company, said on Sunday it was canceling all holidays from the UK to mainland Spain up to and including August 9 following updated travel advice by Britain imposing a 2-week quarantine on those returning from the Iberian country… Despite TUI’s decision to cancel its flights, EasyJet and British Airways said their scheduled services would run as normal.”

A rather odd and panic-driven hasty decision with little or no regard for the British people being “stranded” in Spain. This ill-advised measure has created quite a mess in Britain.

Germany’s and EU’s Political Coronavirus Decisions

BBC News reported on July 28:

“On Tuesday Germany issued a travel warning for three regions in Spain – Aragón, Catalonia and Navarra… Germany announced on Monday a programme of free, mandatory coronavirus testing for travellers returning from a list of high-risk countries. The list currently includes Brazil, Turkey and the US, and officials said it will be updated daily.”

Bloomberg wrote on July 29:

“The European Union showed no sign of reopening its doors to Americans by backtracking further on a plan to let in more foreign travelers… EU envoys in Brussels on Wednesday recommended removing Algeria from a list of 13 states… The U.S. will remain off the list of allowed countries, while China stays in… The verdict — a non-binding recommendation to EU national governments — means their external borders should stay shut to people from most countries for at least two more weeks…

“The bloc’s updated ‘white’ list will now include Australia, Canada, China, Georgia, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay… The external-border recommendation covers 30 European countries: all EU member states except Ireland plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland because they are part of the bloc’s passport-free travel area.”

These decisions by the EU and Germany make NO SENSE whatsoever and are CLEARLY political, as can be seen by the choice of permitted and prohibited countries. Many have nothing to do with the coronavirus.  Obviously, Satan is behind them to make sure that the antagonism between Europe (and Germany in particular) and the USA will continue to get worse and worse.

The Associated Press added on July 28:

“Global air travel is recovering more slowly than expected and it will take until 2024 to return to pre-pandemic levels…”

And so, we are destroying more and more businesses with our ill-conceived restrictive travel ban measures.

Bank in Northern Ireland Refuses to Bank with Christian Charity over LGBT Issues

Breitbart wrote on July 25:

“Barclays bank has reportedly informed a Christian charity in Northern Ireland that it will have its banking facilities revoked following an online pressure campaign mounted by LGBT activists, who claimed that the organisation engaged in so-called gay ‘conversion therapy’. The Christian charity, Core Issues Trust (CIT), said that Barclays informed them that their bank account will be terminated by September… The charity also said that they were removed from Facebook, as well as from Paypal, who ‘terminated its CIT accounts without warning and with no explanation, restricting the ability of supporters to make donations’.

“The CEO of CIT, Mike Davidson told regional newspaper The Belfast News Letter: ‘If a social media mob can cause a bank to close the account of a Christian ministry, then there is nowhere for Biblically faithful Christian ministries to go. The UK is now becoming an intensely intolerant country,’ Davidson warned. Andrea Williams, CEO of Christian Concern, said: ‘If it is Core Issues Trust first, it will be churches next… This kind of demonisation and refusing of services to a Christian ministry is reminiscent of how Jewish businesses were treated under Nazi rule.’..

“Core Issues Trust… says that they attempt to help people who ‘wish to move away from… gender dysphoria’ (gender dysphoria being an NHS-recognised condition where somebody feels discomfort because they believe they belong to a different gender – like a man who says he feels like a woman). The Christian charity says that it engages in ‘one-to-one support for individuals voluntarily seeking to leave homosexual behaviours and feelings’ which some characterise as a form of ‘conversion therapy’.

“The CEO of the charity, Mike Davidson, rejected that terminology, telling the lobby group Christian Concern: ‘This is a pejorative, imposed term, coined by an American gay activist, Dr Douglas Haldeman in 1991, that names some extremes such as electro-shock and aversion techniques only ever conducted by medics, long since abandoned from the 60s, or extreme behaviours already outlawed such as “corrective” rape for which there are no prosecutions in the UK.’…

“Organisations who offer therapy for people who wish to abandon sexual urges have become increasingly a target of activist groups. The pressure has resulted in Prime Minister Boris Johnson announcing that his Conservative government will be looking to ban conversion therapy… A leading Liberal Democrat leadership candidate and self-described pansexual, Layla Moran, said that Mr Johnson’s ‘conversion therapy’ statements were welcome…

“Gendered Intelligence, a trans charity, criticised the Prime Minister for the use of the term ‘gay conversion therapy’, saying: ‘Whilst we hope the prime minister used ‘gay conversion therapy’ for brevity, we must ensure the ban on conversion therapy covers all LGBT people, including trans people.’”

Sodom and Gomorrah all over again, and Boris Johnson falls right into the ditch.

UK Government Wants Trump to Lose?

Business Insider wrote on July 26:

“The UK government is privately ‘desperate’ for US President Donald Trump to lose November’s presidential election and be replaced by Joe Biden, according to a report by the Sunday Times.

“Prime Minister Boris Johnson is publicly one of Trump’s closest international allies. His government, however, has been privately trying to distance itself from the US president in anticipation of a Biden victory, The Times reports. ‘It would make things much easier if Trump doesn’t win reelection,’ one minister in Johnson’s government told the Times reporter Tim Shipman, who added that many agreed with the sentiment.

“Some UK officials are also hopeful of a Biden victory. One senior UK diplomat [said] earlier this month… ‘The venal corruption of the Trump family and the nasty narcissistic aspects of his behavior — all that will go with a different sort of president’…

“Relations between Johnson and Trump’s administrations have been strained in recent months… amid Trump’s ultimately successful efforts to force Johnson’s government to cut its ties with the Chinese telecoms company Huawei. The president is said to have slammed the phone down on Johnson in a moment of ‘apoplectic’ fury in January, when Johnson initially refused to scrap the UK’s deal with Huawei to help develop Britain’s 5G network.

“The UK relented following the imposition of US sanctions on the company. The row, however, has helped to reduce the UK government’s appetite to strike a new trade deal with Trump… Fears among UK voters about the impact of a US trade deal on food standards in Britain have reportedly forced Johnson’s government to put the brakes on what had once been promoted as a rapid agreement.”

Since we are convinced that Trump will stay in power, will the relationship between the USA and the UK further deteriorate, or will it revive, at least temporarily? Our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America,” gives further insight.

The BAD Chinese-USA Relationship

The Guardian wrote on July 24:

“The confrontation between the US and China is gathering pace with each passing week. In the past few days, the Chinese consulate in Houston has been shuttered amid allegations it was a spy hub, and the US mission in the south-western city of Chengdu was closed in retaliation, on similar grounds…

“At the same time as rounding up more than a million Muslim Uighurs in internment camps, the regime has quashed the liberties enjoyed by Hong Kong, taken over disputed atolls, reefs and shoals in the South China Sea…

“One of Trump’s first foreign policy moves was to pull the US out of negotiations for the Trans Pacific Partnership which was designed as an economic coalition to prevent China being able to dictate the terms of trade in the 21st century… Similarly, the US effort to persuade China to join arms control negotiations would carry more weight on the world stage if the Trump administration had not walked out on three arms control agreements to date and is apparently in the process of jettisoning a fourth…

“The abrupt US departure from the World Health Organization in the midst of a pandemic, accompanied by a campaign of unsubstantiated allegations against its officials led by Pompeo, is also often cited by diplomats posted to Washington as an example of the US abdicating its global leadership role.

“The failure of governance evident in the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic… has also made it hard for US diplomats to cajole foreign governments into a common cause against China, without drawing pained smiles… It is a stroke of luck for US diplomacy that, at a time when it is at its weakest when trying to recruit allies, China is doing much of the job on its behalf.”

The once-praised great relationship between Trump and Xi Jinping is long history. So is Trump’s relationship with North Korea’s Kim Yong-un. It is prophesied that ultimately, America will have no more allies or friends.

Trump Floats Idea of Election Delay

 The Times of Israel and the Associated Press wrote on July 29:

“US President Donald Trump is for the first time floating a ‘delay’ to the November 3 presidential election, as he makes unsubstantiated allegations that increased mail-in voting will result in fraud. The dates of presidential elections — the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in every fourth year — are enshrined in federal law and would require an act of Congress to change. The Constitution makes no provisions for a delay to the January 20, 2021 presidential inauguration.

 “Trump tweeted Thursday: ‘With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???’

 “His tweet came on a day of bad economic news — the government reported that US economy shrank at a dizzying 32.9 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter, by far the worst quarterly plunge ever, as the coronavirus outbreak shut down businesses, threw tens of millions out of work and sent unemployment surging to 14.7%….

 “Trailing in public and private polls, Trump refused in an interview just weeks ago with Fox News to commit to accept the results of the upcoming White House election, recalling a similar threat he made weeks before the 2016 vote. ‘I have to see. Look … I have to see,’ Trump told moderator Chris Wallace during a wide-ranging interview on ‘Fox News Sunday.’ ‘No, I’m not going to just say “yes.” I’m not going to say “no,” and I didn’t last time, either.’”

 Some Democratic leaders suggested that Trump may not voluntarily step down and leave the White House if he loses the election. Either way, a civil war seems to become more and more likely. 

Germany Rejects Trump Proposal

Reuters reported on July 26:

“Germany has rejected a proposal by U.S. President Donald Trump to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin back into the Group of Seven (G7) most advanced economies, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a newspaper interview published on Monday. Trump raised the prospect last month of expanding the G7 to again include Russia, which had been expelled in 2014 following Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region.

“But Maas told Rheinische Post that he did not see any chance for allowing Russia back into the G7 as long as there was no meaningful progress in solving the conflict in Crimea as well as in eastern Ukraine… Maas described the relationship with Russia as ‘currently difficult’ in many areas…”

This might further the deteriorating relationship between Trump and Germany.

USA to Withdraw 12,000 Service Members out of Germany

Politico wrote on July 29:

“The Pentagon on Wednesday laid out a plan to shift nearly 12,000 service members out of Germany after President Donald Trump repeatedly said the country was ‘delinquent’ on defense spending… The move will leave 24,000 troops in Germany, where the United States has stationed a significant number of forces since the end of the Cold War…

“Defense Secretary Mark Esper was repeatedly asked how that rationale squared with Trump’s pronouncements that the troops were being moved to punish Germany. Esper noted that the review of European Command was accelerated by the president’s June decision to withdraw forces from Germany, which blindsided allies both at home and abroad and was seen as a rebuke of German leaders and beneficial to Russia… ‘They’re there to protect Europe. They’re there to protect Germany, right? And Germany is supposed to pay for it. Germany’s not paying for it. We don’t want to be the suckers anymore,’ Trump told reporters Wednesday morning. ‘So we’re reducing the force because they’re not paying their bills. It’s very simple, they’re delinquent.’…

“The move… will begin in the coming weeks… German officials… immediately trashed the plan. Norbert Röttgen, chair of the Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee, noted in a statement to POLITICO that the move would weaken the NATO alliance and reduce the effectiveness of the U.S. military against Russia and in the Middle East. ‘… The US troop reduction is not in the security interests of Germany or NATO — and makes no geopolitical sense for the US,’ said Peter Beyer, the German government’s coordinator for transatlantic relations, on Twitter…

“In a statement on Wednesday, Sen. Mitt Romney  (R-Utah) condemned the plan as a ‘grave error’… The plan ‘is a slap in the face at a friend and ally when we should instead be drawing closer in our mutual commitment to deter Russian and Chinese aggression. And it is a gift to Russia coming at a time when we just have learned of its support for the Taliban and reports of bounties on killing American troops,’ Romney said…”

Deutsche Welle added on July 29:

“Retired US General Ben Hodges told DW that the US troop redeployment decision was wrong at its core. ‘The most important ally that the United States has in Europe is Germany,’ Hodges said… Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder criticized the US withdrawal plan, adding that it served no clear military purpose and would even weaken the NATO alliance and the US itself. ‘Unfortunately, this puts a burden on the German-American relationship,’ Söder said… Last week, Söder had joined the state premiers of Baden-Württemberg, Hesse and Rheinland-Palatinate in a letter to members of the US Senate and Congress pleading for a stop to the plan, saying the troops formed ‘the backbone of US presence in Europe and NATO’s ability to act.’ ‘We therefore ask you to support us as we strive not to sever the bond of friendship but to strengthen it, and to secure the US presence in Germany and Europe in the future,’ the German politicians said.

“Green party opposition politician Jürgen Trittin, who sits on the foreign affairs committee in parliament, told DW he believed the real motivation was not military or defense policy: ‘It’s more a part of the economic warfare Donald Trump is fighting against the European Union and especially the Germans,’ Trittin alleged, calling for Germany to cancel plans to purchase new F-18 fighter jets from the US in response.”

This plan is indeed very bad for America, as Germany’s anger will undoubtedly rise, setting the stage for a prophesied MILITARY confrontation between Europe, under German leadership, and the USA, during which the USA will be destroyed.

Needed—a European Army

“Guy Verhofstadt has once again sparked fury on social media after calls for a European army… [He] took to Twitter after US President Donald Trump confirmed his decision to pull almost 12,000 US troops out of Germany… The MEP, a frequent critic of the US President, posted: ‘Germany and EU continue to be bullied by @realDonaldTrump. “The problem is not money. EU countries combined are second biggest military spender (with China). Real problem is 27 armies and 27 budgets. Time for a real European defense market, strategy and army.’”

Europe to Recover Sooner than USA

Newsmax republished the following article by Bloomberg on July 26:

“The euro area economy is for once set for a sprightlier recovery from crisis than the U.S., thanks to starkly different responses to the coronavirus… Crucial for a sustainable recovery is confidence that the virus is no longer out of control, and Europe’s relative success may help encourage shoppers to spend and businesses to invest, further propelling demand and growth…

“Since 1992, the U.S. has outperformed the euro area in all but eight years, according to IMF data. Although the euro area managed to grow when the financial crisis hit in 2008 and the U.S. shrank, in 2009 the U.S. contraction of 2.5% was far shallower than the euro area’s 4.5%…

“The divergence is reflected in markets. European stocks and bonds have benefited from renewed investor popularity, thanks to the bloc’s agreement on a historic 750 billion-euro ($860 billion) accord. The euro has risen more than 6% against the dollar in the past two months, and could have further to run…

“In the U.S., the $2 trillion rescue package that Congress passed in March ranks among the most aggressive in history, but the distribution has been patchy and uneven. Unemployment offices were overwhelmed with claims, and many jobless Americans have still yet to receive the unemployment benefits they’re owed. At the same time, the allocation of loans to small and medium-sized businesses had its own challenges, resulting in a chaotic scramble among business owners to get government assistance. Even so, the Paycheck Protection Program helped save as many as 3.2 million jobs…”

This is interesting in that, according to prophecy, Europe will have to experience a powerful, however short-lived economic revival. That is not to be expected from the USA.

Mikrovits’ Views Must Not Be Aired!

CNN wrote on July 25:

“The Sinclair Broadcast Group… said Saturday it will postpone and rework a segment it planned to air this weekend that suggested Dr. Anthony Fauci… was responsible for the creation of the coronavirus… The episode… that featured the conspiracy theory was also pulled from local Sinclair websites, where it is often posted before airing on the stations over the weekend. People now trying to access the videos on local Sinclair websites are met with an error page… In the episode of the show that was set to air, [former Fox News host Eric] Bolling spoke with Judy Mikovits, the medical researcher featured in the… ‘Plandemic’ video that went viral earlier this year and which was banned from platforms such as Facebook and YouTube…

“Mikovits told Bolling that Fauci had over the past decade ‘manufactured’ and shipped coronaviruses to Wuhan, China, which became the original epicenter of the current outbreak…

“On Saturday morning, the company had defended airing the segment in a series of tweets, saying it did not endorse the conspiracy theory but was committed to providing its audience diverse viewpoints. Bolling had also previously stood by the segment, telling CNN Business that he also did not endorse the conspiracy theory, but that he was comfortable airing it because in a segment after the interview with Mikovits he spoke to a doctor who dismissed the idea Fauci was responsible for the virus…

“After this story was originally published, Larry Klayman, an attorney for Mikovits, wrote in an email on Saturday night that he stood by what his client said on Bolling’s show. Klayman also threatened to sue CNN…”

We are not endorsing the claim that Fauci created the virus, even though there is evidence that it might have been developed in Chinese laboratories. To suppress the show, however, raises unnecessary suspicion, which is coupled with the fact that articles surfaced, as published by Business Insider, the Huffington Post, and others, that in January of 2017, Fauci is quoted as saying that “‘No Doubt’ Trump will face [a] surprise infectious disease outbreak.” Fauci also said at that time that “preventing disease pandemics often starts overseas and that a proper response means collaboration between not only the U.S. and other countries, but also the public and private health sectors” (healio.com, dated January 11, 2017).

More Coronavirus Recommendations

The Hill wrote on July 23:

“Two Florida mayors who govern Miami and Miami-Dade County encouraged their residents on Thursday to wear masks inside to lower the transmission rate of COVID-19 between family members… and also respecting social distance when they’re at home…’ you need to start thinking about maintaining a distance also from your loved ones for a while,’ [it was suggested].”

This is getting so insane. Note the next article.

Shutting Down the Country AGAIN?

CNN wrote on July 24:

“More than 150 prominent US medical experts, scientists, teachers, nurses and others have signed a letter urging political leaders to shut down the country and start over to contain the surging coronavirus pandemic…

“The only way to reopen the economy and the country safely is to follow a set of protocols that public health experts deem necessary for controlling the spread of Covid-19, the letter contends. They include: enough daily testing to test everyone with flu-like symptoms, a work force of contact tracers large enough to track all current cases and more personal protective equipment to keep essential workers safe.

“In addition, they say all non-essential businesses should be closed and restaurants nationwide should only provide takeout service. People should only leave their homes to get food and medicine or fresh air and exercise, and masks should be mandatory in all situations, the letter urged. Leaders should also ban interstate travel to help contain the virus. ‘If you don’t take these actions, the consequences will be measured in widespread suffering and death,’ the letter warned.”

A sure recipe for the total destruction of the US economy and the lives of millions of people.

Exaggerated Death Figures

KNSS published on July 20 the following comments by Rush Limbaugh:

“On Saturday, the U.K. announced that they were gonna pause their daily update of the death toll from coronavirus over concerns that their death toll might be exaggerated. We need to do the same thing here. The problem is that Britain… has been counting people who tested positive for coronavirus as dying from it no matter how much later they died. This is the old argument, did someone die with COVID-19 or because of it? And the U.K. is doing exactly what the U.S. is doing. If you are in a car crash and you die and they test and find out that you had COVID-19, guess what? Your cause of death is gonna be COVID-19, not the fact that you ran into a tree.”

Limbaugh also pointed out that while the numbers of coronavirus infections are rising, the death toll is flat.

Fauci’s Latest Revelations

Breitbart wrote on July 25:

“Dr. Anthony Fauci, of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, suggested in an interview with MarketWatch on Friday that young people are ‘becoming part of the problem’ in the outbreak of the Chinese coronavirus and admitted that experts ‘don’t know exactly’ to what extent people are less likely to transmit the coronavirus when they are wearing a mask… when asked for an estimate of ‘how less likely people are to transmit coronavirus if they’re wearing a mask,’ he could not provide a definitive answer… ‘Your guess is as good as any: 50 percent to 75 percent or 80 percent is probably correct,’ he added…

“The New England Journal of Medicine, in a May study titled ‘Universal Masking in Hospitals in the Covid-19 Era,’ stated, ‘We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection.’…

“Fauci came under fire on Thursday after throwing the first pitch for the Washington Nationals’ season opener and watching the game, in-person, with his mask hanging around his chin… [He later said that to point this out in the media was “mischievous” as he was simply taking a sip of water. However, on the pictures circulated, he did not drink from a water bottle, but talked and laughed with the persons sitting right next to him, purportedly his wife and a close friend].

“While Fauci currently recommends masks, he did not feel the same way in March, telling CBS News’s Dr. Jon LaPook that ‘there’s no reason to be walking around with a mask.’”

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on July 30:

“Dr. Fauci is back in the limelight where he likes to be. In a recent ABC interview he informs Americans that if they ‘really want 100 percent protection’ they should not only wear masks, but also goggles on their eyes [or a face shield]. Will he be recommending space suits next week?”

“You Can’t Surrender our Humanity to the Virus!”

The Daily Mail wrote on July 28:

“Ex-Supreme Court judge Lord Jonathan Sumption today called on Britain to learn to live alongside Covid-19… Lord Jonathan, who is also a medieval historian, praised Sweden’s approach to the pandemic, after the nation bucked the global trend and opted against a lockdown…

“He wrote: ‘Their hospitals were never overwhelmed. They never closed their schools. The predicted damage to their economy is about half of ours.’ Writing that ‘we cannot keep running away’, he added: ‘Our ancestors lived with far worse epidemic diseases without rushing to put their heads in a bag.’…

“He wrote: ‘Our whole transport infrastructure, the buildings in which we work, play and eat out, depend on our being close together. We have surrendered our liberty to the virus. Are we to surrender our humanity as well?’”

However, that is exactly what the world is doing.

Police Resist Enforcing Mask Mandates

The Associated Press wrote on July 26:

“Lang Holland, the chief of police in tiny Marshall, Arkansas, said he thinks the threat of the coronavirus has been overstated and only wears a face mask if he’s inside a business that requires them. He doesn’t make his officers wear them either.

“So the day after Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed an order requiring masks to be worn in public throughout Arkansas, Holland made it clear his department wasn’t going to enforce the mandate in the Ozarks town of about 1,300, calling it an unconstitutional overreach. ‘All I’m saying is if you want to wear a mask, you have the freedom to choose that,’ said Holland, who said he supports President Donald Trump. ‘It should not be dictated by the nanny state.’

“Holland is among a number of police chiefs and sheriffs in Arkansas and elsewhere who say they won’t enforce statewide mask requirements, even within their departments. Some say they don’t have the manpower to respond to every mask complaint… Others, including Holland, reject the legal validity of mask requirements…

“More than half the states have issued orders to wear masks in most public settings, with virus cases and hospitalizations on the rise. Polling shows overwhelming public support for such requirements, and even Trump, who had long been dismissive of wearing masks, last week said it was patriotic to wear one…

“Several sheriffs in neighboring Texas have also said they wouldn’t enforce a mask requirement issued by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. And a group of 38 sheriffs in Montana signed an op-ed this month saying they believe that the mask requirement issued by the state’s Democratic governor this month ‘is not a mandate for law enforcement to issue citations and arrest violators.’

“Enforcement of Alabama’s mask rule, which took effect this month, has also varied. Some police said they would provide masks to those not wearing them in public, and others said they didn’t plan to ticket people for violations…

“In New York City… the nation’s largest police department has struggled with how to enforce mask mandates. Police initially assigned 1,000 officers this spring to enforce mask wearing and social distancing rules, but they backed off after some violent arrests were caught on video. Now, the city relies chiefly on civilian workers and community group members to hand out masks and encourage people to wear them.

“Hutchinson said he would defer to local police and sheriffs on how to enforce his order, saying it was their prerogative on how to prioritize offenses. Supporters of mask mandates say penalties were never their goal and that they never envisioned police having to respond to every complaint about someone not wearing one. ‘Nobody’s asking for a masking gestapo,’ [Dr. Cam] Patterson, [the chancellor of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences] said…”

Newsweek added on July 24:

“Sheriffs in four Indiana counties have said their departments will not enforce a statewide mask mandate announced this week by the governor.”

Resorting to Violence?

Business Insider wrote on July 20:

“Some retailers are refusing to require masks in stores, amid a rash of disturbing incidents involving people who oppose wearing face coverings.  The CEO of Foot Locker told the Financial Times that he is ‘not willing to put [his employees] at risk’ of having to enforce a mask policy and cited accounts of anti-mask shoppers confronting employees at other retailers. Foot Locker posts signs at its entrances advising customers to wear masks, but ‘for the safety of our associates, our Stripers’ will not enforce or deny entrance to customers who choose not to wear one,’ Dick Johnson, the Foot Locker CEO, later said in an email…

“The grocery chain Winn-Dixie has also said it will not enforce a mandatory mask policy. A spokesperson for Winn-Dixie’s parent company, Southeastern Grocers, told USA Today that it won’t require masks to avoid ‘undue friction’ between customers and employees.”

To be clear, to resort to violence, regardless as to what the cause, is always wrong.

More Violence in the USA

 The Associated Press wrote on July 26:

“Protests took a violent turn in several U.S. cities over the weekend, with demonstrators squaring off against federal agents outside a courthouse in Portland, Oregon, forcing police in Seattle to retreat into a station house and setting fire to vehicles in California and Virginia.

“A protest against police violence in Austin, Texas, turned deadly when a witness says the driver of a car that drove through a crowd of marchers opened fire on an armed demonstrator who approached the vehicle. And someone was shot and wounded in Aurora, Colorado, after a car drove through a protest there, authorities said…”

Trump has threatened to send in more federal agents, including New York. Is civil war inevitable?

Attorney General William Barr Under Attack

Breitbart wrote on July 28:

“Attorney General William Barr called out Democrats on Tuesday during a House Judiciary Committee hearing for failing to condemn mob violence and attacks on the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland, Oregon in recent weeks. ‘What makes me concerned for the country is [that] this is the first time in my memory that the leaders of one of our great two political parties, the Democratic Party, are not coming out and condemning mob violence and the attack on federal courts,’ Barr said. ‘Why can’t we just say: “Violence against federal courts has to stop?” Could we hear something like that?’

“Barr was testifying about the federal law enforcement response to protect the courthouse, which has been vandalized and firebombed by what Democrats, including former Vice President Joe Biden, have called ‘peaceful protesters.’ Those ‘protesters’ have also attacked the federal officials defending the building.

“Committee Chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), who claimed on Sunday that the violence was a ‘myth,’ did not respond by condemning the violence…

“House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jim Jordan (R-OH) debunked the claim that the protests in the name of George Floyd have been ‘peaceful,’ playing a video during a hearing that showed scene after scene of violence and destruction in America’s streets. The six-minute video began with nearly two dozen clips of mainstream media journalists and Democrat politicians claiming the protests have been ‘peaceful.’

“It showed the widely-mocked video of MSNBC’s Ali Velshi standing in front of a burning building in Minneapolis claiming that the protest was ‘not, generally speaking, unruly.’ It ended with former President Barack Obama and 2020 Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden calling them ‘peaceful protests.’

“It then switched to a press conference with the wife of Capt. David Dorn, a retired black police chief who was shot and killed while trying to defend a pawn shop from looters in St. Louis, Missouri. As his wife struggled to hold back her tears, the video showed clips of mobs of violent rioters attacking police, burning flags and buildings, vandalizing police cars, looters, and protesters running over police officers…

“The video showed some scenes from rioting in Portland, of violent mobs trying to tear down fences, setting fires to buildings, and throwing bombs and other explosives. It showed protesters toppling statues and cheering. It showed police officers on bicycles trying to protect a monument and being pelted with garbage, bottles, and other objects…”

The disrespectful conduct of Jerry Nadler and his Democratic colleagues on the committee towards Attorney General Barr was shameful and appalling. Raising accusation after accusation, they gave him virtually no time or opportunity to respond and clarify. It was nothing short of a “kangaroo court.”

Mandate to Display Black Lives Matter Posters

Breitbart reported on July 17:

“The San Francisco Police Commission voted this week to require police stations throughout the city to display Black Lives Matter posters… The left-wing and Marxist Black Lives Matter political organization has been at the forefront of calls for police to be defunded across the country… The resolution, which was unanimously approved, ordered the Police Department to install a poster of at least 32 by 24 inches in each district station within 30 days. The poster must ‘prominently and exclusively’ feature the phrase ‘Black lives matter’ and it must be displayed in a place visible to station visitors…

“Not everyone in the department, however, supported the measure ahead of Wednesday’s vote. The San Francisco Police Officers Association sent the commission a letter saying the union supported the notion that black and brown lives matter, but a directive to install the posters ‘establishes a new precedent that raises concerns about introducing political agendas and wedge issues into the safe harbor of police stations.’

“‘Police stations are places for the citizens of San Francisco to seek help and assistance when they have become victims of crimes,’ Rockne A. Lucia, a lawyer for the police union, wrote in the letter. ‘They are not places for political endorsements or alignment with political organizations.’ Police union President Tony Montoya said in a statement that the commission ‘should put away their soapboxes and stop their political grandstanding.’”

What nonsense!

USA One of the Worst Countries to Raise a Family

The Daily Mail wrote on July 23:

“The US is one of the worst countries in the world to raise a family, while Britain also scores badly, according to new research. America was ranked 34 out of 35 in a comparison of the world’s biggest economies, scoring three ‘F’ grades for safety, cost of living and work-life balance, a ‘D minus’ for health, and a ‘C+’ for happiness and education. Overall, it was given an ‘F’ grade for raising a family, with only Mexico coming out worse…

“Britain, meanwhile, was given a ‘B minus’ rating, ranking it 23rd, with scores including a ‘D minus’ for work-life balance and an ‘F’ for cost of living. It scored average for health (C) and education (C+) but better for happiness (A) and safety (B).”

Not a flattering statistic for the USA and the UK.

The Democratic Party’s Legacy of Racism

Fox News reported on July 24:

“A group of Republican House members, led by Rep. Louis Gohmert of Texas, introduced a resolution Thursday that would effectively ban the Democratic Party from the House or force a party name change over past slavery ties — a response to the recent efforts to remove tributes to past members of the Confederacy from the halls of Congress.

“It specifically cites the Democratic Party platform’s support for slavery between 1840 and 1856, and other racist actions by party members through the early-to-mid 1900s, before calling on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to ‘remove any items that names, symbolizes or mentions any political organization or party that has ever held a public position that supported slavery or the Confederacy’ from the House and its properties. The resolution also says such a party ‘shall either change its name or be barred from participation in the House of Representatives.’…

“‘As outlined in the resolution, a great portion of the history of the Democratic Party is filled with racism and hatred,’ Gohmert said. ‘Since people are demanding we rid ourselves of the entities, symbols, and reminders of the repugnant aspects of our past, then the time has come for Democrats to acknowledge their party’s loathsome and bigoted past, and consider changing their party name to something that isn’t so blatantly and offensively tied to slavery, Jim Crow, discrimination, and the Ku Klux Klan.’

“He added: ‘To avoid triggering innocent bystanders by the racist past of the Democratic Party, I would suggest they change their name. That is the standard to which they are holding everyone else, so the name change needs to occur.’

“[The resolution] appears to be meant more as a criticism of allegedly ‘blatant hypocrisy’ around the House’s approval of a measure removing Confederate busts in the Capitol this week…”

One cannot help but to be amazed at the hypocrisy of leaders of the Democratic Party.

Escaping from America?

Forbes wrote on July 28:

“… with the coronavirus pandemic restricting travel for US citizens and the power of the US passport on the decline, it’s no surprise that many Americans are investigating how they can buy a second passport, whether it’s to seek shelter in another country or just to be able to travel more freely… It can often take up to five years of living in a place to become a resident, and many countries also require you to renounce your US citizenship….”

As the article points out, there are ways to “buy” a foreign citizenship, by investing an extraordinary amount of money in the foreign country. And so, again, money rules the world…

Billions of Animals Were Killed Last Year in Australia

Fox News wrote on July 28:

“The devastating wildfire season in Australia that stretched from last July through March impacted far more animals than previously estimated, scientists said Tuesday in a new report… Nearly 3 billion animals – including mammals, reptiles, birds, and frogs — were killed or displaced…

“‘The interim findings are shocking,’ WWF-Australia CEO Dermot O’Gorman said… ‘It’s hard to think of another event anywhere in the world in living memory that has killed or displaced that many animals. This ranks as one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history.’

“In the interim report, 143 million mammals, 2.46 billion reptiles, 180 million birds, and 51 million frogs are believed to have been impacted…”

God prophesied that in the end time, many animals will be destroyed because of the sins of man.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

The New European Trio?

Deutsche Welle wrote on July 17:

“The leaders of France, Italy and Germany urged ‘all foreign actors’ to stop interfering in Libya and to respect the UN arms embargo on the country. The trio hinted at sanctions as a way to enforce their position. Libya faces a ‘heightened risk of regional escalation,’ said German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in a joint statement on Saturday…

“‘We are ready to consider the possible use of sanctions should breaches to the embargo at sea, on land or in the air continue,’ the leaders said in the statement… [It] marks a change in tone from Paris, Berlin and Rome. International observers worry that Libya fighting could escalate to the level of the Syrian civil war, with various regional players waging proxy wars through their factions on the ground.  Last month, German diplomacy veteran Wolfgang Ischinger said the EU should ‘threaten military intervention’ in Libya.”

Germany, Italy and France are becoming more and more the leading nations in an evolving prophesied core-Europe of ten nations or groups of nations. Note the next article as well.

Northern EU Countries (and Austria) vs. Germany, France (and Italy)

MSN wrote on Sunday, July 19:

“European Union leaders failed to unlock an agreement on a 750 billion-euro ($860 billion) response to the coronavirus pandemic after a second day of sparring in Brussels… A crucial late-night meeting including Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Germany’s Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron of France ended abruptly in a dispute over how much of the package should be disbursed as grants and how much as loans.

“Germany and France are insisting that at least 400 billion euros should be handouts and Rutte and four other fiscal hawks from northern Europe are pushing for a much lower figure… ‘Europe is being blackmailed’ by the hawks, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in a statement released by his office. Italy may suggest the possibility of seeking an accord of just 26 nations, leaving out the Netherlands, which are at the forefront of opposition to the plan… [Most other EU countries, including Spain, but excluding the “hawks,” support the plan.]

“Rutte and his allies from Austria, Denmark and Sweden [as well as Finland] are trying to water down the handouts that the highly indebted South sees as critical for shoring up its finances…”

In addition to Austria (which is becoming more and more an antagonist to Germany and other leading European nations), the “four hawks” are, interestingly enough, all nations which are descendants of the ancient house of Israel.

The Guardian wrote on July 20:

“The Brussels summit… had been notably bad-tempered from day one. As tempers flared on Sunday night, Macron even accused Kurz of having a ‘bad attitude’ and not caring about the views of others after he had left the negotiating room to take a call. Asked to respond to Macron’s criticisms of his approach, Kurz said: ‘It’s understandable that some people, when they don’t get much sleep, have their nerves on edge…’”

Finally, a Deal was reached, but…

Deutsche Welle wrote on July 21:

“EU leaders agreed early Tuesday to an unprecedented €1.8 trillion ($2 trillion) aid and budget deal aimed at helping hard-hit bloc members recover from the economic fallout of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The package includes a €750-billion fund to be sent as loans and grants, as well as a seven-year €1 trillion EU budget.

“European Council President Charles Michel tweeted a brief message minutes after leaders adopted the plan: ‘Deal!’ ‘We did it. Europe is strong, Europe is united. This is a good deal, this is a strong deal and most importantly this is the right deal for Europe right now,’ Michel said. ‘I believe this agreement will be seen as a pivotal moment for Europe’s journey.’

“The breakthrough comes after more than four days of wrangling, with talks often stretching into the early hours. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen thanked German Chancellor Angela Merkel for ‘steering’ negotiations towards a European solution… Merkel described the agreement as an ‘important signal,’ and said she was ‘very relieved’ that EU leaders were able to cooperate. It was good ‘that we pulled ourselves together in the end,’ she said.

“That sentiment was echoed by French President Emmanuel Macron, who called it a ‘historic day for Europe… There is no such thing as a perfect world, but we have made progress,’ said Macron.

“However, the European Parliament will still have to agree to the package… DW correspondent Marina Strauss said the deal had taken so long because the positions of each side had been so far apart, but that the result was monumental…

“The package includes the biggest-ever joint borrowing by the 27 members of the bloc, and an initiative to send tens of billions of euros to countries hardest hit by the virus — most notably heavily indebted Spain and Italy, which had both called for major financial assistance from the EU. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez hailed ‘a Marshall Plan for Europe,’ that would see €140 billion sent to Spain over the next six years.

“Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said that Italy was ‘satisfied’ with the results of the plan, which would see 28% of the total funds, or €209 billion directed towards Italy. That figure includes €81 billion in grants and €127 billion in loans… Greece will also receive €72 billion under the plan, in a move that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called a ‘national success.’…

“To meet the concerns of the so-called frugal four — the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Sweden — which see Italy and Spain as being too lax with public spending, the assistance includes a number of conditions and major strings attached…

“Negotiations were bogged down by major disagreements concerning grants, loans and whether economic and financial reforms should dictate access to the funds. The 27 member states had been largely divided into two camps. Germany and France spearheaded efforts to collectivize debt in order to raise much-needed funds for countries such as Italy and Spain, which bore the brunt of the pandemic in the EU.

“In the other camp, the frugal four, together with Finland had called for a strings-attached approach that would have made access to funds conditional on tough market reforms. That camp also support stringent measures that would have blocked funding for countries that did not adhere to EU rules on the rule of law.

“That could have jeopardized funding for countries such as Hungary and Poland who are the target of a European Commission investigation over rule of law violations.”

However, the real nature and underlying importance of this “deal” is described in the next article.

“They Lied”

Express wrote on July 22:

“EU leaders have betrayed their citizens with a coronavirus rescue package which commits countries in the north of the bloc to put their hands in their pockets to bail out those in the south, a former MEP has said, on the day the European Council signed off on the controversial deal. Hans-Olaf Henkel said the move broke historic promises made by European giants like Helmut Kohl and Gerhard Schroder and claimed the justification for the measures was a ‘poor camouflage’ for the real intention – to create a United States of Europe…

“Mr Henkel told Express.co.uk: ‘I also regard this agreement as ‘historic’ but in a different way as pronounced by Merkel, Michel and von der Leyen…  ‘These grants are… a blatant violation of all promises made before: “Never ever would the membership in the EU or of euro currency force Germans to subsidise others!”… This promise made by Chancellors Kohl, Schroder and even Merkel was broken last night – by Merkel!… These gigantic debts… depend on the introduction of a new EU taxation system, a decision previously always blocked by Great Britain and for instance Germany.

“From now on, not only cities, regions and countries will tax EU citizens and EU companies, also Brussels will! The package’s justification being ‘Corona’ and ‘Solidarity’ is a poor camouflage of the true intent: to use the current corona crisis to move the EU ever closer to the United States of Europe under a socialist-green flag.’”

Ultimately, it will be an authoritarian dictatorial USE… with whatever label it may be described. But we should not forget that the Third Reich was ruled by NAZIS–national-socialist dictators.

Germany Wants a Strong Europe and Alliance with Russia against USA

Modern Diplomacy wrote on July 22:

“Germany’s presidency in the European Union, which began on July 1^st, may stimulate the EU into re-evaluating its role in world affairs and could encourage it to streamline relations with Russia. The key factor contributing to this is the traditionally productive trade, economic and energy cooperation between Moscow and Berlin, and the recent move towards a deterioration of Germany-US relations, a trend which is set to intensify as the November presidential elections in the US draw nearer. The two priorities pursued by incumbent President Donald Trump are the policy of protectionism and an aggressive promotion of his country’s financial and economic interests throughout the world…Both trends are at odds with Germany’s agenda…

“Germany’s Ambassador to Russia Geza Andreas von Geyr [said a few days ago that] Berlin is pursuing a whole range of priorities, including the strengthening of relations between the European Union and Russia… [It] will require the German leadership to take more action, both in defending the interests of ‘united Europe’, and in searching for diplomatic solutions to regional and global crises. In pursuit of this agenda, Berlin may face its key opponent – Washington. Not accidentally, the motto of German presidency in the EU is formulated in the spirit of Donald Trump’s election slogan: ‘Together we will make Europe strong again’. But it is the United States that is not interested in strong Europe, since it will limit the opportunities for the expansion of American products, capitals and interests.

“In the near future the EU can be expected to recreate the French-German alliance… Germany’s ability to succeed in addressing its agenda will depend on its readiness to become a kind of a ‘bridge’ between the East and the West. One of the factors that could signal such readiness is the completion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project… Germany’s ruling circles are confident that the ‘construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea will be completed despite the US sanctions’. However, the intensifying pressure from the United States will require Germany to demonstrate yet more stamina in defending both national and common European interests.”

Von der Leyen has declared that US sanctions regarding the pipeline violate international law.

The Threat from China

The Sydney Morning Herald wrote on July 18:

“China is now engaged in simultaneous diplomatic, military and trade disputes across Europe, Asia, America and Australia. At the centre of all these disputes is a China with territorial, technological and economic ambitions that are starting to match the size of its population and the weight of its history…

“In one 48-hour period this week, Beijing traded tit-for-tat sanctions with Washington, slammed primaries held by Hong Kong pro-democracy parties as illegal, accused Britain of being a US lackey for banning its flagship telecommunications provider Huawei, confronted the economic fallout from a border dispute with India and warned its citizens they could have their property seized in Australia as diplomatic relations between the two countries evaporate…

“Germany has taken a keen interest in Australia’s fraying diplomatic relationship with Beijing… as Europe hardens its position on China in response to its crackdown on Hong Kong, the historically liberal territory that for more than a century functioned as a conduit between East and West. Berlin, which has long maintained a China principle of ‘change through trade’ is now leading calls for the European Union to ‘take a strong stand’…

“Xu Xiaonian, an honorary professor at the China Europe International Business School,… doesn’t agree that confrontation… is inevitable… ‘In history we have a precedent. Germany under Otto von Bismarck successfully avoided confrontation with France and the UK. Why today we cannot do that?’ This is true but the analogy has a problem. Germany’s first chancellor also annexed Alsace-Lorraine. Two decades after his reign the world would be at war.”

The Bible shows that in the not-too-distant future, kings from the East, including nations such as Russia and China, will be involved in a nuclear war with Europe under German leadership.

Breaking with China

Deutsche Welle wrote on July 20:

“The United Kingdom has suspended its extradition treaty ‘immediately and indefinitely’ with Hong Kong… The move makes the UK the fourth country after Canada, Australia and the United States to suspend its extradition agreement with the partly autonomous Chinese city…

“Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Monday the UK was heading down the ‘wrong path’ and urged London to ‘avoid further damage to China-UK relations.’ Last week, Johnson ordered that Huawei technology be purged completely from the UK’s 5G network… The UK also announced last month it would open a special route to citizenship for up to 3 million eligible Hong Kong residents, a move Chinese Ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming has described as a ‘gross interference’ in Chinese affairs.”

As the BBC explains on July 20:

“The extradition treaty means that, if someone in Hong Kong is suspected of a crime in the UK, then the British authorities can ask Hong Kong to hand them over to face justice – and vice versa. The UK fears the arrangement – which has been in place for more than 30 years – could see anyone it extradites to Hong Kong being sent on to China.”

In light of China’s dictatorial measures and habit of suppressing and persecuting minorities and opponents of the regime, that concern is surely well-founded.

British Army Could Be Wiped out in One Afternoon

Express wrote on July 23:

“RUSSIA could have wiped out the British Army’s only fighting unit in one afternoon, a shock report revealed after experts found the UK could have only deployed 5,000 to 10,000 war-ready troops.

“Research by the Royal United Services Institute [in 2019] found that the [British] Army, as well as Nato allies, had a ‘critical shortage’ of artillery and ammunition. It concluded that it could not maintain a credible defence position… It added that Britain is ‘comprehensively outgunned and outranged’, leaving enemy artillery free to defeat UK units.

“The UK and other NATO forces not only have a limited number of artillery pieces, but also a shortage of munitions stockpiles and transportation… In response, the MoD said: ‘The UK does not stand alone but alongside its NATO allies, who work closely together across air, sea, land, nuclear and cyber to deter threats and respond to crises.’”

But what happens when Britain or the UK will stand alone… as prophesied?

USA Prepares for Military Confrontation with China

Breaking Israel News wrote on July 22:

“Washington is deploying its military forces throughout Asia for a potential confrontation with China. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said… that Washington would continue sending Navy ships into the region to challenge China’s expansionary policies. It should be noted that the U.S. has now officially rejected China’s claims of sovereignty in most of the South China Sea.

“Esper added that the US would continue selling arms to Taiwan so that it can defend itself against an increasingly belligerent China. Esper noted that based on China’s actions in Hong Kong, Taiwan has no reason to believe that Beijing will honor its commitments vis-a-vis the defunct ‘one country, two systems’ model. He then reaffirmed his country’s commitment to executing freedom of navigation exercises in both the Taiwan Strait as well as the South China Sea.”

Deutsche Welle reported on July 22 that “China condemned an order to close it[s] consulate in the US city of Houston as a ‘political provocation’ that will make diplomatic relations worse. Beijing has threatened retaliation for the surprise decision.”

Contrary to popular belief in Christian and Jewish circles, the Bible does not prophecy a major military confrontation between China and the USA, prior to Christ’s return. As mentioned above, the Bible DOES prophesy a major NUCLEAR war between China and Europe.

God Unhappy with America?

The Times of Israel wrote on July 17:

“Mike Evans, the evangelical writer… [with more] than 73 million followers [on Facebook], stated: ‘… people are terrified right now, that God is not happy with America… They’re looking at the riots, they’re looking at the plague of corona, and they’re worried, “Is God unhappy, is he cursing us?” They’re not sure, and they want God to bless them.’”

Americans are deeply concerned, and they should be. It is clear that God is NOT blessing this country right now. Mike Evans had another interesting take on America’s future role in the Middle East. Note the next article.

Annexation Resurrection?

JTA wrote on July 16:

“When I spoke to Mike Evans… he offered a bold prediction… ‘Before the election, I think President Trump’s going to come out and declare sovereignty over all of Judea and Samaria, and the Jordan Valley and declare that the Bible is not illegal,’ Evans told me.

“… the Trump administration has gone quiet on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s push to annex just parts of the West Bank. But Evans said Trump would go one better and say that the United States would recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the entire West Bank… Evans said, the president would learn that evangelicals needed annexation to get them to turn out in the numbers Trump needs to defeat Joe Biden in November.”

And he will defeat Biden. Will he then also begin to actively support the anticipated building of the third temple in Jerusalem, on the Temple Mount?

Sending “Federal Troops” to Major Cities?

The Hill wrote on July 20:

“President Trump on Monday signaled he may order federal agents to be deployed to Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia and other major cities as he threatens to crack down further on unrest across the country…

“Trump cited heightened violence in Chicago and New York City, in particular, both of which have seen a rise in shootings in recent weeks. In the latter’s case, he blamed city and state officials for restricting police from taking a stronger response. ‘I’m going to do something – that, I can tell you,’ Trump said. ‘Because we’re not going to let New York and Chicago and Philadelphia and Detroit and Baltimore and all of these – Oakland is a mess. We’re not going to let this happen in our country…’

“Trump has for weeks threatened federal intervention in major cities as protests against police brutality and racial inequality persist in the wake of the death of George Floyd in late May. He has fixated in recent days on the situation in Portland, Ore., where demonstrations have continued for more than 50 days leading to the administration sending in federal law enforcement to respond.

“Democratic leaders and civil rights groups have condemned the Trump administration’s actions in Portland… Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler (D) said Sunday the presence of federal law enforcement is leading to more violence in the city and called for their removal. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) has also called for federal officers to be removed from the city and Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum (D) sued federal agencies on Friday over the detention of protesters.

“But Trump on Monday argued that federal agents in Portland had done a ‘fantastic job’ and claimed the Democratic leaders in the cities he named were unwilling to act to deter further violence. ‘The governor and the mayor and the senators out there, they’re afraid of these people,’ Trump said…”

Truth be told, violent “demonstrations” and protests were consistently occurring in Portland, Oregon, for months BEFORE any federal agents arrived there. The charge that the presence of federal agents causes or increases violence is demonstrably false.

Federally Funded Smithsonian Institution Attacks Whites, American Culture and Christianity

PJ Media wrote on July 15:

“In June, while Americans were focused on the protests and riots that engulfed U.S. cities in the wake of the horrific police killing of George Floyd, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) released an online ‘teaching tool’… The page dedicated to ‘whiteness’ includes an infographic attributing various aspects of American culture to ‘whiteness’ or ‘white dominant culture.’ Among other things, this graphic suggests that the nuclear family, science, capitalism, and the Judeo-Christian tradition are forms of oppressive ‘whiteness’ that non-white people should reject as part of an oppressive system… [It focuses especially on] the Protestant work ethic, English common law, some aspects of capitalism, and Christianity… including the nuclear family, the husband as the breadwinner, and the wife as homemaker and subordinate to the husband…

“… the Smithsonian receives about two-thirds of its $1.2 billion annual budget from taxpayers… The federally-funded institution should be defending American culture, not demonizing [it].”

What horrific nonsense. You could not make that up. And the federal government supports those institutions financially? For more absolute ridiculousness, note the next article.

Trader Joe’s Jumps on “Political Correct” Band Wagon

The San Diego Union Tribune wrote on July 20:

“Trader Joe’s has responded to criticisms about its packaging by announcing that it is in the process of eliminating labels that use ethnic-sounding names intended to be humorous. The offending products bear such labels as Trader Ming’s for foods and condiments related to Chinese cuisine, Trader José’s for Mexican-style products and Trader Giotto’s for Italian-themed items…

“The attention on Trader Joe’s comes amid a nationwide reconsideration of branding that has accompanied the Black Lives Matter movement. Land O’Lakes has removed a Native American woman from its products. Meanwhile, the images of Black men and women on product lines such as Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben’s and Mrs. Butterworth are in for a makeover, if they survive at all. The Eskimo Pie name also is becoming history…”

Words fail…

Twitter Bans Jewish Star

Breaking Israel News wrote on July 22:

“Twitter’s battle against racism led them to block accounts incorporating the Jewish star… Twitter sent messages explaining the measure: ‘We have determined that this account violated the Twitter Rules. Specifically for: Violating our rules against posting hateful imagery. You may not use hateful images or symbols in your profile image or profile header. As a result, we have locked your account.’

“Twitter instructed them that if they delete the ‘hateful imagery’, i.e. the Star of David, the account may be unlocked… One of the definitions for ‘Hateful Images’ is ‘symbols historically associated with hate groups.’”

Appalling indeed!

Twitter “Apologizes”

 JTA added on July 23:

 “Twitter acknowledged that it accidentally closed the accounts of some users for posting the Star of David… The Star of David in the profile pictures of the locked accounts ranged from artistic images to the yellow stars worn by Jews during the Holocaust… 

“Twitter stated… that using a yellow Star of David like those worn by Jews in the Holocaust in order to target Jewish people is a violation of its Hateful Conduct Policy… Twitter addressed the closed accounts this way: ‘While the majority of cases were correctly actioned, some accounts highlighted recently were mistakes and have now been restored.’”

Still VERY strange and troublesome!

Before the Explosion…?

The Week wrote on July 17:

“… there’s some worse thing looming just around the corner… [People are] oblivious to the doom about to strike… The anxiety comes from having lived through two major and massive unforeseen events taking place in quick succession over the past six months — first, the coronavirus spreading across and shutting down the world; second, the video of George Floyd’s death at the hands of the Minneapolis police sparking massive, weeks-long protests across the country and precipitating a moral revolution in American civil society.

“… many millions are now in long-term unemployment, with bankruptcies up and evictions and foreclosures bound to spike… it’s hard to see how this doesn’t start a cascade of terrible economic consequences… Opening public schools is enormously important — for the health of the economy and the well-being and future prospects of both children and their parents, most of whom need to work during the day and so can’t (and are unqualified to) step in to serve as full-time homeschooling teachers…

“What kind of social, economic, and political disruptions are we likely to see as it happens?… imagine a nation in which the ranks of the unemployed grow every week for months on end… and then the economy really starts to tank, with waves of bankruptcies and layoffs, a flood of evictions leading to a huge increase in homelessness, a bigger wave of urban crime than we’ve already seen, foreclosures that push banks to the brink and erase the equity of homeowners, and a belated stock market crash that wipes out the retirement funds of half the country.

“Tick, tick, boom. What would the explosion look like?… I spend an awful lot of time dreading it.”

Yes, America’s explosion will come… and it will be so much worse than anticipated. America’s economic ship is indeed on a collision course with a huge iceberg and en route to the abyss. There is no recovery, avoidance or escape in sight. The next article shows that many Californians are seeing this… and business owners are fed up with governmental restrictions which destroy their livelihood.

Californians Refuse to Shut Down Again

The San Diego Union Tribune wrote on July 17:

“Shawn Gilbert is not shutting down. Not again, after losing tens of thousands of dollars during the first government-mandated closure of his University Heights gym, Boulevard Fitness… Now, with 25 years under his belt in the fitness industry, he’s at his limit with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest order to shut down gyms again, barely a month after he reopened…

“He’s not alone in that decision. At least two gyms in North County remained open Thursday… these businesses and others — from salons to churches — push back against county and state regulations meant to slow the spread of COVID-19… A collection of San Diego gyms… have banded together to fight what they perceive as an unfair mandate that unreasonably singles out their businesses. Several of the gym owners have consulted the same attorney, and they plan to sue if officials try to shut them down…

“Gilbert said he was denied help from multiple lenders, not qualifying for a dime of assistance from the government-backed Payroll Protection Program loan, nor the Economic Injury Disaster Loan — two programs meant to keep small business owners alive during closures…

“Hair salons — businesses also ordered to shut down this week for the second time — are getting more vocal about their own resistance movement. A federal lawsuit was filed on behalf of hairstylists and salon owners against Newsom in May, alleging the governor had unfairly kept them closed. The lawsuit represented over 500,000 licensees via the Professional Beauty Federation of California…

“In a very public blog post, Jeremy McGarity, a pastor at Skyline Church in Rancho San Diego, explained in no uncertain terms why the church would not be complying with the state’s new mandates… In his post, McGarity said that other churches have also decided to stay open…

“‘The government has called cigarettes and alcohol essential while considering a fitness center that builds your mental health and immune system unessential,’ Gilbert said. ‘That makes zero sense to people in California.’… For example, Big 5 Sporting Goods, a national retailer, sells guns and therefore deemed itself essential. But Play It Again Sports in Pacific Beach, a small franchise business in direct competition to Big 5, had to shut down…”

Man’s governments are simply UNABLE and INCOMPETENT to deal with a crisis effectively. They only make matters far worse.

California’s Schools Remain Closed

The Hill wrote on July 17:

“80 percent of the state’s schools cannot reopen in the fall. Those counties include Orange County, where the education board just this week approved reopening without masks or social distancing.

“Masks are also required for teachers and students in third grade and above in [the 20 percent of the state’s schools that are allowed, but are not required, to] reopen… Additional requirements include physical distancing, symptom checks, hand-washing stations and increased sanitation.

“Newsom clarified that the new guidance is a ‘mandate’ for both public and private schools in the state…”

Masks and social distancing for school kids is a horrible idea which is extremely DAMAGING to the health and welfare of the children.

No Spread of Virus in Schools

Bloomberg wrote on July 18:

“Scientists behind a Nordic study have found that keeping primary schools open during the coronavirus pandemic may not have had much bearing on contagion rates. There was no measurable difference in the number of coronavirus cases among children in Sweden, where schools were left open, compared with neighboring Finland, where schools were shut, according to the findings… Sweden avoided a proper lockdown, while Finland imposed tougher social distancing.

“Indicative data show there is no difference in the overall incidence of the laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 cases in children aged 1 to 19 years in the two countries; contact tracings in primary schools in Finland found hardly any evidence of children infecting others, according to the working paper by the Public Health Agency of Sweden and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. What’s more, there’s no increased risk for teachers, according to a Swedish comparison of cases among daycare and primary school staff, compared with risk levels in other professions.

“It’s not the first time researchers have raised questions about the merits of shutting schools during the pandemic. A French study last month found that school children don’t appear to transmit Covid-19 to peers or teachers. That investigation established that kids seemed to show fewer symptoms than adults, and to be less contagious…

“After two months of remote learning, Finnish children returned to school in May, and national infection rates have continued to decline since then…”

Why is it that so little is being published in the propaganda-driven mass media about THESE kinds of scientific findings?

The Trump Lockdown Folly

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on July 17:

“If the truth be told, … the Trump Lockdown Folly [by not firing Dr. Fauci] ranks among the greatest blunders ever committed by a US President. That’s because even at this late date nearly four months into the resulting economic disaster: there is no evidence that asymptomatic persons are transmitters of the virus, there is powerful statistical evidence that 95 percent of the population can cope with the disease and recover if they do become infected.

“Yet, the twin pillars of Fauci’s… scheme assumes the very opposite: Namely, that healthy Americans must be put under house arrest because they are silent spreaders and killers of their fellow citizens; and that the disease is so virulent that its #1 enemy—the powerful immune system of every healthy American—cannot be trusted to do its job if the virus is permitted to follow its natural course of contagion and eventual herd immunity….

“WHO’s COVID-19 Task Force, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, recently explained that transmission of the virus from asymptomatic patients appears to be very rare… In a constitutional democracy, where the liberties and properties of citizens are protected by law, you need overwhelming proof of an existential threat to society before ordering mass house arrests…”

Even though this folly is repeated all over the world, it does not suddenly become sound and sane. And in the process, the world is destroying itself.

Death Toll from Coronavirus Questioned

Breitbart reported on July 22:

“Nearly one-third of Americans do not believe the coronavirus death toll is as high as reported, an Axios/Ipsos poll released Tuesday revealed. The survey, conducted July 17-20, 2020,… found that Americans are growing skeptical over the number of reported coronavirus-related deaths… the number of those who believe it is less has increased by eight percent since May.

“Republicans remain far more skeptical of the coronavirus death toll, with 58 percent saying it is ‘less’… A majority of Democrats, 61 percent, believe the death toll is higher… The growing skepticism coincides with reports of errors in reporting positive cases, as was recently seen in Connecticut and Florida.”

No Outbreak in South Dakota

Breitbart wrote on July 17:

“The spike of coronavirus that was supposed to come as a result of President Donald Trump’s speech at Mount Rushmore on July 3 never came according to Gov. Kristi Noem… During an interview with Fox News Channel’s ‘Fox & Friends,’ Noem said there were decreases COVID-19 metrics in her state…

“‘I think what we did here in South Dakota is really remarkable because we gave people their freedom. We let the businesses stay open. We let people go to work. We told them to be smart. And we also asked them to be personally responsible, and we’re seeing the benefits of that each and every day in South Dakota.’…

“When asked for what advice she would give to other governors around the country, Noem urged them not to ‘lay down mandates… Let [the people] make decisions that are right for their families.’”

Good advice! Will governors in other states, such as California or New York, heed it? Hardly!

Wearing a Mask?

Newsmax wrote on July 20:

 “Surgeon General Jerome Adams is pleading with Americans to wear a mask to help curb the spread of coronavirus. During a Monday appearance on ‘Fox & Friends,’ the country’s top doctor said he was wrong to say face masks weren’t necessary during the initial outbreak of the virus… During the early days of the pandemic, Adams said masks were ineffective and possibly even dangerous. He said face coverings provide a false sense of security and can cause people to touch their faces even more.

“Now, he said his position has changed…  ‘Once we realized that the science was different for this virus, we changed our recommendations.’”

 Not so. Dr. Fauci also originally recommended AGAINST wearing masks, with exactly the same rationale as given by Adams. Subsequently, he changed his recommendations as well. When asked about his earlier advice against wearing masks, he said that he wanted to discourage the public from wearing masks because there were not enough masks for the medical personnel.

The Hill wrote on July 20:

“[Fauci] also acknowledged that masks were initially not recommended to the general public so that first responders wouldn’t feel the strain of a shortage of PPE. He explained that public health experts ‘were concerned the public health community, and many people were saying this, were concerned that it was at a time when personal protective equipment, including the N95 masks and the surgical masks, were in very short supply.’… Fauci continued to say that they wanted to give as many masks as possible to front line workers and emergency personnel.”

This stunning admission only leads to three (or four) possible conclusions: Either, he purposefully lied about the effectiveness of wearing masks, or he was ignorant about the real nature of the pandemic, or he is ignorant about it now, or all of the above. The real question is, Why should he be listened to now, since his views “changed” and might have been dishonest, and they are by no means uncontested by other doctors and scientists?

On July 22, CBS reported:

“President Trump changed his rhetoric on wearing masks in a press conference Tuesday, saying that ‘they have an impact.’… Mr. Trump urged Americans to wear a mask in the briefing. He largely resisted wearing a mask in public for months and downplayed their importance but tweeted a picture of himself wearing one on Monday.”

Following the recommendations of his political and medical advisers, he made a 180-degree turn around regarding the wearing of masks, obviously with a view to the November elections.

Bill Gates on Vaccines and School Closures

The Sun wrote on July 23:

“Bill Gates… warned it could take an ‘unbelievably big number’ of doses to beat the virus. He said: ‘None of the vaccines at this point appear like they’ll work with a single dose… [He continued:] there will be ‘a lot of uncertainty’ about the vaccine… Gates also described the closures of schools as the ‘biggest cost’ of the pandemic after deaths as he said classes likely won’t be all back until fall 2021…

“Asked whether Facebook should do more to remove the conspiracy theories, he said: ‘They are willing to take down anti-vaxxer posts. But you don’t want to suppress normal dialogue.’”

Gates should define “normal dialogue.” The ones who oppose vaccines obviously don’t fall into that category. Anthony Fauci said on Wednesday it is unlikely the coronavirus will ever be eradicated.

The Curse of Travel Bans

Forbes wrote on July 19:

“A labyrinth of travel restrictions and border closures have added a daunting layer of complexity to long-distance relationships… This despite the fact that these couples are willing to get screened for the virus before they travel and remain in quarantine with their partners after they arrive.

“Like everyone else, unmarried couples living apart—in two different countries—worry about the impact of the virus on their health, work, and everyday lives. But this angst is compounded by lengthy and painful separations, as well as uncertainties about where and when they’ll see each other again…

“Corsi Crumpler, 28, a silversmith in Wichita Falls, Texas, owns a small jewelry company… Corsi last saw her fiancé, Sean Donovan, 29, for five days in March… ‘We met at a pub in Dublin in 2018 and the rest is history,’ she says. The couple face time, talk by phone, and text multiple times a day but can’t shake the trauma of their separation… ‘Our  K-1 Visa (a non-immigrant visa for a fiancé/fiancée) ceased to make progress because the embassies and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) shut down—without word about when they might reopen,’ she says. ‘Sean can’t come to the States because Ireland is on the U.S. travel ban list… ‘The US Embassy in Dublin told us that Sean might qualify for a “humanitarian waiver” to visit me,’ she says. ‘So we went through all the paperwork and purchased air tickets (required to prove his intent to return). After a week-long runaround complying with document requests, they turned us down two days later (via email) and chalked it up to a misunderstanding.’ Adding to the disappointment: A few days later, Corsi learned that more than 1000 foreign athletes and their families/significant others were granted travel ban waivers to enter the U.S…

“You might call Dylan Greene, 27, and Gugulethu Duma, 29, citizens of the world. The couple—both of them composers, musicians and teachers—met as international fellows at a program called Onebeat… Dylan is Canadian. Gugu, who is from South Africa, has been living in Trondheim, Norway completing a master’s degree. Since COVID hit, she has been in Berlin. They last saw each other in February in Brooklyn, New York. Since then, they video call or phone each other multiple times a day, and text, share art and watch movies… Gugu is not permitted to travel to the U.S. from Germany and she’s unable to return to South Africa because its borders are shut. Dylan hasn’t been able to get to Germany. He’s had five flights cancelled despite providing evidence of negative COVID tests, doctors’ notes testifying to his need to be with her, and proof of their residence…

“A petition on Change.org (also with the hashtag #LoveIsEssential) asks governmental authorities to lift travel bans and reunite couples. It has already garnered more than 17K signatures… Couples fear that a second wave of the virus may extend the length of time that border restrictions are in place so they hope to compel governments to act before then. Their message: We deserve to be recognized as ‘essential’ travelers rather than tourists…”

This article, and the next one, shows the perhaps somewhat unintended terrible consequences of travel bans which, nevertheless, DESTROY the lives of people in many different irresponsible ways.

“International Students Can Study in the U.S. this Fall — If They Can Get Here”

NPR wrote on July 19:

“Due to the pandemic, many international students who are starting a graduate program or their freshman year… face a series of hurdles — travel restrictions, limited flights and closed U.S. consulate offices — that make it incredibly difficult to start the fall semester at U.S. colleges. That’s despite a reprieve last week, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement agreed to allow international students to stay in the country even if their schools opted for online-only learning in the fall.

“The biggest hurdle for students… is acquiring a student visa. U.S. consulate offices, where students go for an in-person interview, are closed — it’s unclear when they’ll reopen… travel restrictions will make it difficult…to make [their] way to the U.S. The State Department has currently barred travelers coming directly from China…

“Students come to the U.S. from all over the world, but China and India send the most. In 2019, there were more than 350,000 Chinese international students in U.S. colleges and universities. And because they often pay full-tuition, that translates to big money for schools: international students studying in the U.S. contributed $41 billion during the 2018-2019 academic year…

“Colleges are bracing for the possibility that their students won’t make it to campus… In the worst case scenario, that means the U.S. would admit the lowest level of new international students since just after World War II… The Trump administration said last week that students coming from Europe are exempt from the current travel ban to the U.S., but it’s unclear the impact that will have on enrollment, given that no European country is represented on the top 10 list of origin countries for international students…

“With weeks left before the first day of school, there are few options for international students trying to enter the U.S…. Ultimately it may be the case that an in-person fall is a fallacy for all students, not just an impossible feat for those living abroad. More and more colleges have scaled back or reversed their decision to hold in-person classes… “

Apart from the terrible situation which foreign students find themselves in, the economic loss to the USA is mind-blowing.

Pleading for Opening Transatlantic Flights

Skift wrote on July 22:

“American Airlines and United Airlines, along with Iberia Airlines’ owner International Airlines Group and Lufthansa Group, want regulators to permit more American and Europeans to travel on transatlantic flights, arguing they need more customers on these routes for their businesses to recover. ‘Given the unquestioned importance of transatlantic air travel to the global economy as well as to the economic recovery of our businesses, we believe it is critical to find a way to re-open air services between the U.S. and Europe,’ the CEOs of the four companies wrote in a joint letter to U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson.

“All four airline groups fly across the Atlantic now, serving major routes like New York to Frankfurt, Dallas/Fort Worth to Madrid, and Washington D.C. to Zurich. The problem is the customer pool is tiny, with American and European regulators placing strict limits on who can fly. Most flights are [filled] with dual citizens, or customers who are transiting in European airports, or passengers exempt from the ban, such as health care workers, and diplomats. It is easier for Americans to visit the United Kingdom, though they must quarantine for two weeks upon arrival. The United States maintains similar restrictions on which travelers can enter from Europe. It first instituted the restrictions in March, during Europe’s first wave.

“While the letter is addressed to U.S. and European leaders, this issue is probably stickier in Europe, because it has fewer cases, per capita, than the United States. Europeans have said they’re concerned about the rising number of U.S. Covid-19 cases, and they’re fearful that an influx of Americans would lead to more cases. In their letter, the four CEOs acknowledge the Covid-19 problem, but said regulators could mitigate it by creating a joint U.S.-EU testing program… ‘A coordinated COVID-19 testing program could be key to providing confidence to permit services to resume without quarantine requirements or other entry restrictions.’”

News from Australia

We received the following report from Australian Elder Paul Niehoff:

“In Melbourne face masks will become compulsory on Thursday morning for everybody over 12 years of age who leaves their home except for running, attending school or going into a bank. The border with New South Wales will be tightened. The FDA and FTC have sent out over 280 letters to companies who recommend any non-approved treatment, drug or otherwise, for Covid-19 even when it is used successfully in other countries or by various doctors in the US. The letter includes the final statement as shown here:

‘‘It is unlawful under the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 41 et seq., to advertise that a product can prevent, treat, or cure human disease unless you possess competent and reliable scientific evidence, including, when appropriate, well-controlled human clinical studies, substantiating that the claims are true at the time they are made. For COVID-19, no such study is currently known to exist for the products identified above. Thus, any Coronavirus-related prevention or treatment claims regarding such products are not supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence. You must immediately cease making all such claims… Within 48 hours, please send a message to James E. Elliott… describing the specific actions you have taken to address the FTC’s concerns…’

“The local money changers have closed due to lack of business. Our bank has sent us a letter telling us that they will no longer provide international cheques but we must use electronic transfers.”

Interview with John Bolton on Trump and Merkel

On July 17, Der Spiegel published an interview with John Bolton who served as Trump’s national security advisor from 2018 to 2019. We are quoting relevant excerpts from that interview, as they relate to the relationship between Trump and Germany, especially Merkel:

“DER SPIEGEL:  Mr. Bolton, Donald Trump had already begun firing barbs at German Chancellor Angela Merkel back when he was still one of many Republican candidates for president. Merkel’s refugee policies, he said at the time, had been a ‘disaster for Germany.’… is Trump rather obsessed with the German chancellor?

“Bolton: … with Merkel, it’s kind of complicated – the president’s father was German, so that might have something to do with it. But there are also political reasons. U.S.-EU trade relations have been a major source of controversy between the U.S. and Germany. Then there is the issue of support for NATO and the agreement that each member state would spend 2 percent of GDP on defense, which Germany is behind on…

“DER SPIEGEL:  Ever since Trump moved into the White House, the German government has been concerned that he might introduce punitive tariffs on German automobiles. Thus far, though, he has not followed through on his threats. Is the issue off the table?

“Bolton: It’s never off the table. Trump likes tariffs, and it’s something he can do without Congressional approval…

“DER SPIEGEL: Another dispute between the United States and Germany is the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project. Is this really about serious concerns that Germany and Europe could grow overly dependent on Russia? Or is it more about business and American hopes to sell American natural gas to Europe?

“Bolton: It’s a combination of both. He talked about imposing sanctions all the time, but he never has. I think it would have stopped the pipeline. And it’s not finished yet. It may yet be stopped. It is strategically damaging to Europe and the United States.

“DER SPIEGEL: There is a famous image from the G-7 Summit in Canada in April 2018. It shows Merkel leaning on a table with Trump facing her, his arms crossed and looking unhappy. You are standing right next to him. Can you remember what you were talking about?

“Bolton: Yeah, it wasn’t comfortable. In my recollection, it wasn’t Chancellor Merkel speaking with Trump at that moment, I think it was President Macron. But that’s just an historical detail. To me, it demonstrates two things. One, why I don’t like these communiqués at G-7 and G-20 meetings… Number two, in this instance, by forcing Trump literally as well as figuratively into a corner, they made him very unhappy with the whole process. Not long after that picture was taken, when we were back on Air Force One, Trump withdrew his approval for the communiqué. It was the first time that had ever happened…

“DER SPIEGEL: Will Germany and the rest of Europe have to be responsible for their own national security and defense in the future?

“Bolton:… The problem with the European Union is that there’s a lot of rhetoric about strong security policies, but not a lot of follow through. You hear European leaders saying over and over again: ‘We’ll defend ourselves.’ If people aren’t careful, there will be others in America, like Trump, who say: ‘Fine, go ahead.’…

“DER SPIEGEL: Is there a chance that Trump will win the election in November?

“Bolton: Absolutely. He’s way behind now – in large part, because of the coronavirus pandemic and the economic consequences. But the polls in 2016 showed him behind as well. There was a universal consensus on Election Day, including in Trump campaign headquarters, that he was going to lose. In my view, we should never underestimate the ability of the Democratic Party to blow an election.”

In the light of biblical prophecy, we are repeating our long-standing conviction that Trump is going to be re-elected. The relationship between the USA and Germany, as well as the rest of continental Europe, will not improve.  

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.

“Churches Unfairly Scapegoated for Pandemic”

On July 10, The Week published the following opinion by Bonnie Kristian:

“The New York Times on Wednesday published a case in point. ‘Churches were eager to reopen,’ the headline announced. ‘Now they are a major source of coronavirus cases.’ A shocking claim! Let’s see the evidence:

“[The New York Times wrote:] ‘Weeks after President Trump demanded that America’s shuttered houses of worship be allowed to reopen, new outbreaks of the coronavirus are surging through churches across the country where services have resumed. […] More than 650 coronavirus cases have been linked to nearly 40 churches and religious events across the United States since the beginning of the pandemic, with many of them erupting over the last month as Americans resumed their pre-pandemic activities, according to a New York Times database.’

“Wait, that’s it? The contrast is stark between the headline’s branding of churches as a ‘major source’ of contagion and the story’s citation of 650 church-linked cases out of 3 million nationwide… ‘The not-so-subtle subtext,’ observed Reason‘s Jacob Sullum, is that ‘[r]eopening churches was reckless, because they are more likely than other venues to be the sites of superspreading events, regardless of the precautions they take. But the evidence presented by the Times does not support that thesis.’ The Billy Graham Center’s Ed Stetzer raised the same objection, deeming this ‘a headline looking for a story’ and arguing the ‘real story’ is that ‘churches are gathering and remarkably few infections are taking place.’…

“We do know tens of thousands of cases have been tied to other locations — 24,000 to meatpacking plants and 57,000 to prisons… But that headline is what was published atop an article suggesting churches are uniquely dangerous places… the Times piece is not a wild aberration, though it stands out as a straight news item so poorly framed and explained. Recent months have seen too much journalism on churches and COVID-19 which is similarly misleading or incomplete.

“A recent Politico story, for example, questions why ‘officials have declined to single out church-related outbreaks as problematic’ while offering little evidence churches deserve to be thus singled out. The report says case clusters ‘are surfacing in counties across the U.S. where in-person religious services have resumed’ — but many other indoor public spaces have opened in those same counties. Is there data showing the churches are unusually culpable? Politico does not present it. Meanwhile, an emergent genre stories argues evangelicalism is itself a public health hazard….”

The quoted comments are interesting, especially as being published in a left-liberal magazine such as The Week. Some try to make or label the debate on religious liberties and freedoms a political issue. It is nothing of the kind. But giving up religious freedoms and practices, which are commanded by God, prepares us for the ultimate acceptance of the mark of the beast. There are always “arguments” someone can come up with to justify their respective compromising viewpoints, but if they are not based on the Bible, they are meaningless and wrong. Our new free booklet, “Obeying God rather than men,” enumerates, by way of example, some restrictions imposed by governments in the context of religious services and practices which, if followed, WOULD violate the commands of God.

Please also view our recent StandingWatch program, “California’s Ongoing Persecution of Churches”, as well as our video-taped message, “Coming Civil War in the USA?—Comments on News and Prophecy, July 11, 2020.” 

We also recommend watching the following StandingWatch program, “Do you disobey God while accepting the mark of the beast?”

We should be clear on what it means to accept the mark of the beast… and what it does not mean.

California Churches Have Had Enough with Gov. Newsom’s Restrictions

On July 10, Newsmax published the following article which originally appeared in The Associated Press:

“Crossroads Community Church Senior Pastor Jim Clark… [is] drawing the line at a new California ban on singing or chanting at religious services. ‘I said enough’s enough,’ Clark said. ‘We will be singing and praising the Lord. … We don’t chant, but if we did chant, we’d be chanting too.’

“The California ban was one of a number of restrictions on indoor businesses and gatherings put in place last week by Gov. Gavin Newsom… It’s unclear if any similar prohibition on singing exists in the United States, though there is one in England… The ban may well end up in court as there are differing opinions on its legality, with some conservative groups arguing it infringes on religious freedom…

“The American Center for Law and Justice, a religious freedom law firm with ties to President Donald Trump, says it will sue. ‘We can’t stand by and watch as California strips its believers of their God-given right to raise their voices in worship and praise,’ executive director Jordan Sekulow said on the center’s website. The center, which was founded by televangelist Pat Robertson, did not say how quickly it would sue…

“Another conservative-leaning legal group, The Pacific Justice Institute, told faith leaders in a letter that Newsom’s guidance is advisory because it does not say it is an order, cites no legal authority, isn’t signed by any official and includes no reference to penalties. Institute president Brad Dacus said after the letter went out attorneys there fielded dozens of subsequent calls from relieved religious leaders who allowed singing last Sunday and intend to keep doing so. ‘These churches are just glad to know they will not be criminally prosecuted for singing worship songs on Sunday morning,’ said Dacus, whose institute has filed pandemic unequal treatment lawsuits against state officials in Oregon and Washington…

“The California Catholic Conference said it would comply… But others like Clark said they will ignore the ban… Clark said there has been no effort to crack down, and no criticism of him flouting Newsom’s restrictions. To the contrary, he said feedback has been positive. ‘Most of them have been calls, ‘Thank you for standing up for what you believe,’” he said…

“Greg Burt, spokesman for the conservative California Family Council, said he’d heard of no effort to enforce the singing ban during the first weekend it applied. ‘As soon as they try to enforce it, it’s going to make national news,’ he said. ‘This seems to be a little more extreme than telling them they can’t meet, because you’re telling them how to worship,’ Burt said. ‘That seems to be a little more over the line involving the government directly violating the First Amendment.’

“Harmeet Dhillon, a lawyer and Republican Party official… said she is considering a lawsuit over the singing restriction. Dhillon and other critics including Advocates for Faith & Freedom and the National Center for Law and Policy said the church restrictions constitute unequal treatment when compared to recent crowds of demonstrators protesting police violence after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. ‘If you’re allowed to chant “Hey hey, ho ho, racism’s got to go” but you can’t chant the liturgy, that’s obviously discriminatory,’ she said.”

Again, the objections by church leaders to the governmental restrictions have NOTHING to do with liberal or conservative politics. At least, they should not have. Rather, they ought to be strictly based on God’s commandments, which must be obeyed, if they are in conflict with man’s laws or regulations. In this context, you might also consult the following Q&A’s, explaining our responsibility as God’s Church; many misunderstood religious concepts; and offering hope in these times of uncertainty.

https://www.eternalgod.org/in-what-way-do-your-booklets-sermons-sermonettes-and-updates-especially-articles-and-comments-in-your-current-events-sections-relate-to-the-churchs-end-time-commission-to-preach-the-gospe/ 

https://www.eternalgod.org/are-lengthy-imprisonments-and-quarantines-godly/ 

https://www.eternalgod.org/should-we-be-afraid-of-the-future-part-1/

https://www.eternalgod.org/should-we-be-afraid-of-the-future-part-2/

https://www.eternalgod.org/should-we-be-afraid-of-the-future-part-3/

Unwilling to Be Vaccinated against Coronavirus

Deutsche Welle wrote on July 12:

“In April, 74% of survey participants in Germany, the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands, Italy, France and Portugal said they would be willing to get vaccinated. By June, that number had dropped to 68%… The drop was particularly dramatic in Germany, which saw vaccine willingness drop from 70% to 61%. Divisions between northern and southern Germany were especially pronounced, with 67% of people in the northern state of Lower Saxony saying they would get vaccinated. In the southern state of Bavaria, however, only 52% said they would do the same.

“In early June, a national survey carried out by YouGov found only 50% of respondents were willing to get vaccinated — while 20% were staunchly opposed to getting a vaccine… [A] growing number of survey respondents… said they didn’t want to get a vaccine or were unsure about it due to concerns about potential side-effects or uncertainty about the safety of the vaccine….”

Of course, scientists working on the development of vaccines will go on overdrive to “assure” the public that a vaccine, still to be developed, will be “safe” and will have no side effects. People should be health-oriented and they should be very careful before allowing to be vaccinated with a vaccine which could be very dangerous. This is especially true for Christians in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. The Bible says that our body is supposed to be a holy temple of and for God.

The Great Covid-19 Deception

The Ron Paul Institute published an article on July 10 by Gary Heavin, stating that “he and his wife Diane are the founders of Curves, the world’s largest fitness franchise. Gary is the author of two NY Times bestselling books, Curves and Curves on the go. Gary co-wrote and starred in the movie Amerigeddon. Gary is a pro-life libertarian and serves on the advisory board of Dr. Ron Paul’s Institute for Peace and Prosperity. Gary and his wife are philanthropists who feed 10,000 children a day in Haiti and operate an orphanage outside the slums of Mumbai. Most importantly, they are bible believing Christians”:

“… it’s imperative that you understand the great deceit that Big Pharma, their minions at the FDA, CDC, NIH, the WHO, the MSM, and officials in high government positions are perpetrating on you, your family, and likely your doctor… you need to know you are being duped and you need a plan for you and your family if you become infected with Covid 19…

“When it comes to safe, effective and affordable therapies for Covid 19, Big Pharma and its agents, i.e. Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx and many others, appear to have an agenda to lie to you and your physician. The most obvious example is their ongoing effort to ridicule the treatment option of hydroxychloroquine, Azithromycin, and Zinc. We’ve all watched the harsh criticism that President Trump received when he promoted this protocol for Covid 19. So, hydroxychloroquine has been around for almost 70 years as a treatment for malaria, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis. The WHO has designated it as a safe and effective medication akin to taking an aspirin. A survey of 6,000 medical doctors affirmed it as their treatment of choice for Covid 19….

“How much effort has Big Pharma put into subverting this treatment regimen? In addition to denouncing its effectiveness, from Dr. Fauci and company, constant MSM hit pieces, the censoring of medical doctor’s articles and videos from the internet, there has also been a number of ‘studies’ done that were literally sabotaged from the onset.

“The VA hospital system reported in March that they had given hydroxychloroquine to a number of patients. Following their release of information, the MSM ran the story with the headlines, ‘VA hospital found that hydroxychloroquine doesn’t work and increases the fatality rate of Covid 19.’ However, if you actually read the study you will find that only the sickest of the cohorts were given the drug. They got the drug only after they were so far along that it would not have a chance to work and they were not given zinc. None of these details made the MSM articles.

“Another example of the Great Deception came from the British medical journal, The Lancet. The Lancet reported that a meta study showed that hydroxychloroquine was ineffective. As a result of this published study, France, Italy and other European countries immediately prohibited the use of this treatment option. Within a few weeks, it was found that the study was… badly designed and that the results were literally fabricated. The Lancet was forced to make a retraction of the ‘study.’ Of course in the meantime the MSM ran the original Lancet story and mislead millions of people and their physicians.

“So what could possibly be the motive behind Big Pharma’s Great Deception. Well there’s three answers, money, money and money. That brings up the treatment option that Big Pharma is promoting, Remdesivir. This lovely experimental drug, costs above $3,000 per regimen, must be given intravenously in a hospital (five days stay around 15 grand) and evidence shows that it doesn’t really work. The other treatment option is the promised Covid 19 vaccine that they allege is forthcoming. The NHS in Great Britain has committed to purchase a vaccine for the entire population of Great Britain. That’s a commitment of 80,000,000 doses at an agreed price of around $600 for each vaccination. That’s about $50,000,000,000. (50 Billion) That’s a lot of incentive to mislead people. This week, a US pharmaceutical company received $1.6 billion dollars towards their efforts to make this vaccine which in the opinion of many experts, won’t work on a coronavirus and will be untested and experimental.

“How does Big Pharma have so much control over the dissemination of this information or should I say propaganda? Well, the same answer pops up again, money. Big Pharma gave $2 billion dollars during the last election cycle to US politicians. Big AG, the military/security complex and big oil each gave only a paltry $1.0 billion dollars to buy the votes of our political leadership… The MSM counts Big Pharma’s advertising revenue at up to 80 percent of their income…”

The mass media and Big Pharma will not admit to any of this, but can there be any doubt that the involvement of Big Pharma has caused great harm to many people?

The Health Danger of Masks

The Ron Paul Institute published the following additional article on July 13:

“Way back in March of this year the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) were on record saying masks should only be worn by people who were around sick people. Healthy people didn’t need to wear masks.

“But all that has changed. Dr. Mark Sircus, in an article published on Lew Rockwell, July 10, 2020… reveals a startling statistic. He notes that typical CO2 in the air is about 400 ppm, a little higher than that around the nose or mouth as we breathe. But a typical mask can drive the level up to a dangerous 5,000 ppm!

“According to Dr. Sircus… wearing a face mask has been shown to reduce the amount of oxygen in the blood stream to 17.5 percent which over time can lead to hypoxia or lack of adequate oxygen to function normally. Headaches, foggy thinking and lethargy are common byproducts. Mask wearing while engaging in heightened physical activity can make matters even worse.

“Then there are the obvious inconsistencies with mask wearing. You have to wear one to enter a restaurant but once seated you can take it off? How does that work? Is there any ‘science’ that says seated people in a restaurant aren’t susceptible to the virus but if you start walking around you’re toast? None of this Covid garbage makes any sense to anyone willing to engage in critical thinking!…”

To be clear, we do not advocate against wearing masks when it is necessary, for instance, when shopping in stores [otherwise, one could not buy something] or working in an office where masks are mandated [otherwise, one could not work there and would lose his or her job]. What we ARE advocating is careful consideration of avoiding wearing masks when and where it is not necessary.

Certain States Travel Restrictions Constitutionally Dubious

On July 14, the Hill published the following opinion by lawyer “Daniel Ortner at the Pacific Legal Foundation, which litigates nationwide to achieve court victories enforcing the Constitution’s guarantee of individual liberty”:

“At the end of June, the governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut announced that anyone coming into their states from other states identified as coronavirus ‘hot spots’ — now up to 19 states — are required to quarantine themselves for 14 days. Ironically, Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York earlier in the pandemic called a similar policy put in place by Rhode Island for those who had been to New York unlawful and threatened to sue. But Cuomo was right then and is wrong now. These travel restrictions are constitutionally dubious and deeply problematic.

“Although governors have been granted emergency powers to respond to a pandemic, these powers have limits. In particular, governors can only exercise the power that has been granted to them by the legislative branches of their state. Constitutional guarantees, such as the right to due process and the right to travel, further constrain the governors’ emergency powers… ordering someone not to leave their home is a significant incursion on liberty. Accordingly, state legislatures have placed stringent limitations on the exercise of this power.

“A common limitation on the power to quarantine or isolate is the requirement that such orders must target discrete named individuals or identifiable groups, rather than broad categories of individuals. For example, in Connecticut, the governor or health commissioner can quarantine only those individuals they reasonably believe have been exposed to a disease or are contaminated. This requirement forecloses the application of quarantine and isolation orders to categories as broad as ‘anyone who has visited the state of Florida in the past two weeks.’ There is no reasonable basis for believing that anyone who has been anywhere in Florida has COVID-19. Statewide in Florida as of July 13, there were around 245,500 active cases among a population of 21.48 million, or around one in every 100 people (which is comparable to the number of active cases per capita in New York). And there’s even less reason to assume that for other states on the list, such as Iowa where around 1 in 400 people is infected, or North Carolina where around 1 in 300 is infected.

“Most states place significant procedural limitations on the exercise of quarantine and isolation authority, such as the right to an individualized hearing and to be represented by counsel, and categorical orders that apply to anyone who visited a particular state do not comply with these limitations. The northeastern governors’ orders ignore these sensible limitations, disregarding due process, another severe constitutional defect. Because quarantine or isolation orders significantly infringe on individual liberty, an individual is entitled to due process of law. At a bare minimum, an individual is entitled to a hearing where the government bears the burden of proof and where an individual can put on a defense. The northeast governors’ recent quarantine declaration provides for none of that.

“Finally, sweeping restrictions on travel violate the fundamental constitutional right to travel. We live in a country made up of 50 states… The Supreme Court has held that the Constitution protects the right of individuals to travel between states. This right to travel can be limited only when necessary to achieve a compelling state interest. A policy that imposes a quarantine on everyone coming from a particular state is far too broad and poorly designed to meet this level of scrutiny, especially when a traveler is not significantly more likely to be sick, on average, than the state’s own residents. Such a sweeping ban also ignores the significant regional variation that exists within most states. For example, someone from rural Franklin County in the Florida Panhandle is 12 times less likely to have had COVID-19 than someone from Miami-Dade County. But these sweeping travel bans treat them both the same…”

The question is, does anybody care anymore about America’s Constitution?

New Restrictions by Gov. Newsom

Fox News wrote on July 13:

“California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday ordered a halt to indoor activities at certain businesses statewide… Newsom, a Democrat, announced during a press briefing that all bars across the state must close… and that restaurants, wineries, tasting rooms, family entertainment centers, zoos, museums and card rooms must suspend indoor activities. The governor also announced that all gyms, places of worship, malls, personal care services, barbershops, salons, and non-critical offices in counties on the state’s ‘monitoring list’ had to shut down under the new order. The order affects more than 30 counties which are home to about 80 percent of California’s population…

“In March, California became the first state to impose a mandatory stay-at-home order… By late April, Newsom — under increasing pressure – began allowing businesses and activities to resume…

“Newsom’s announcement comes just hours after the state’s two largest school districts, Los Angeles and San Diego, announced they will not reopen for in-person instruction when the 2020-21 academic year begins next month…”

Los Angeles Unified, the country’s second-largest school district with roughly 700,000 students, will begin online-only “instruction” August 18; San Diego Unified, which serves more than 100,000 students, is set to start Internet “Instruction” August 31. But Orange County’s Board of Education voted to approve recommendations for reopening schools in the fall that do not include the mandatory use of masks for students or increased social distancing in classrooms. This vote is advisory only.

The Editorial Board of the Wall Street Journal wrote on July 14:

“The evidence — scientific, health and economic — argues overwhelmingly for schools to open in the fall. Start with the relative immunity of young children to the disease, which should reassure parents. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 30 children under age 15 have died from COVID-19. In a typical year 190 children die of the flu, 436 from suicide, 625 from homicide, and 4,114 from unintentional deaths such as drowning.

“Only two children under age 18 have died in Chicago — fewer than were killed in shootings in a recent weekend. In New York City, 0.03 percent of children under age 18 have been hospitalized for Covid and 7.5 in one million have died. The death rate for those over 75 is more than 2,200-times higher than for those under 18.”

All these new measures, including the refusal to open schools, will BANKRUPT California [and other states] for sure and will destroy the financial survival of millions of people. They may also lead to violent protests and violent reactions. Man is proving time and again that he is totally incompetent to rule. We need Christ’s return to replace ALL human governments with the righteous Kingdom of God.

Reactions to Gov. Newsom’s New Restrictions

 Fox News reported on July 16:

 “A California pastor (Greg Fairrington, leader of 3,500-members Destiny Christian Church outside of Sacramento) said he would defy Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest coronavirus lockdown… ‘If we don’t take a stand, all we’re doing is kicking the can down the road and we will be having the same conversations in three weeks, six weeks, six months, or even a year from now,’ [he said]. During a livestream service earlier this month, Fairrington floated a run for governor if he gets enough support… After 11 weeks of online-only services, Fairrington reopened on May 31 along with 1,000 other congregations across the state. Days before, President Trump had declared houses of worship ‘essential’ and stated he would override any governors that don’t allow them to open.”

 In a newsletter of the Los Angeles Times, it was stated on July 16:

 “The rapid shifts between a little more light and further darkness have created a sense of whiplash for many Californians. We stayed home, suffered job losses or uncertainty, and struggled to pivot as the rules adjusted and a bit of normalcy returned. Now, we find ourselves seemingly plunged back in time to the panic of late March and April, with narrowed lives and ever louder alarm bells ringing in every direction… the analogy of ‘the hammer and the dance’ might be helpful for wrapping your head around our ever-shifting situation… 

“We’ve already seen the hammer — it came down hard in late March, when aggressive action was taken to all but shutter the state of California. And we are now well into the dance, a delicate, imperfect quickstep of tightened and loosened restrictions that began when stay-at-home orders first eased in mid-May. We twirl in, and then out, and back again, urgently hoping that our improvised choreography can outpace the need for another all-encompassing blow of the hammer sending us back into total lockdown.

 “It’s a roller coaster ride with no end in sight. And… we are all screaming in our hearts. But the chaos has been particularly acute for those who work in industries affected by the closures. Small-business owners are contending with how to possibly stay afloat, as their workers face further layoffs and furloughs after months of financial uncertainty. That pain is being felt across California, as evidenced by a slew of reports in local papers around the state… The 2021 Rose Parade is canceled for the first time in 75 years…”

California’s Economic Downfall

Regarding California’s precarious situation, CNBC already published the following article on May 9, 2020:

“California will have a budget shortfall of $54.3 billion because of the economic devastation wrought by the coronavirus, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration announced Thursday, a stunning reversal for a state that had a $21 billion surplus a year ago.

“The state has been under a mandatory stay-at-home order since mid-March, forcing nonessential businesses to close and prompting more than 4 million Californians to file for unemployment benefits. After recording record low unemployment of 3.9% at the start of the year, the Newsom administration now predicts a jobless rate of 18% for the nation’s most populous state — 46% higher than the height of the Great Recession a decade ago… the revenue shortfall means the state’s constitutionally required funding level for public schools and community colleges will fall by $18.3 billion…

“The Newsom administration projects personal income will fall by close to 9% for the state’s nearly 40 million residents while permits for new housing construction — a key measure of the economy’s health — will drop more than 21%… For the past 10 years, the state has had an unprecedented run of economic growth, adding more than 3.4 million new jobs… But the projected budget [dispelled] any notion of a quick recovery once the state’s coronavirus restrictions are lifted… ‘The next few years we’re going to have to work through these challenges,’ Newsom said Wednesday.”

And now, after some restrictions had been lifted, they are back again… and with them, the economic downfall of California continues.

Buying Guns in Record Numbers

The Wall Street Journal wrote on July 14:

“Gun sales began rising to unusual highs in March, as coronavirus cases began surging in the U.S. and government-ordered lockdowns led to the highest unemployment levels since the Great Depression. The Federal Bureau of Investigation processed 7.8 million background checks for gun purchases from March to June… In June, background checks for firearms were up 136%, compared to a year earlier… Background checks in June for civilians seeking a license to carry were the highest since the FBI began conducting checks 20 years ago. Background checks for guns in Georgia tripled last month versus last year… and have more than doubled in Oklahoma, New York, Illinois and Minnesota.

“Last month in Minneapolis, the city where Mr. Floyd, a Black man, was killed by a white policeman, the line for gun permits was three hours long on Juneteenth, with a racially diverse group standing in line to obtain a permit… Dealers estimate that 40% of sales are going to first-time buyers, an increase over the normal average of about a quarter… sales of handguns, which are used for personal safety, are the strongest…

“That worries political leaders who are struggling to quell a recent surge in violence in cities around the U.S. Murders in Milwaukee, Chicago, Kansas City, Mo., and New York are on pace to see their highest levels in years, or even decades. ‘When we shut down all but necessary businesses, the states kept gun shops open. Why is that an essential business? And we had people lined up outside,’ Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said in an interview. The city is struggling with a steady increase in gunshot victims…

“First, there was a run on ammo… then it was the Asian-American community fearful over hate crimes they had seen related to China-bashing, and now it is just about everybody. Basic training courses are sold out through October. At Coliseum Gun Traders in Uniondale, N.Y., sales manager Kevin Romano said many first-time gun owners say they are buying guns because they see other people are buying guns.

“Gun stores were closed in some states in March amid a debate over whether they needed to be open during lockdowns, along with such essential businesses as grocery stores and gas stations. But eventually, all state governments allowed them to operate after the Trump administration said they should be considered essential businesses. Among the new buyers are people who say they never thought they would own a firearm and were previously critical of those who did…”

Violence WILL spread. Is civil war inevitable?

CNN Spreads Heretical and Blasphemous Teachings

Fox News reported on July 14:

“CNN anchor Don Lemon made the claim that Jesus Christ was ‘not perfect’… ‘Jesus Christ, if that’s who you believe in, Jesus Christ, admittedly was not perfect when he was here on this earth,’ Lemon told his colleague Chris Cuomo during ‘CNN Tonight with Don Lemon’ on Monday… ‘Don Lemon’s comments are, first of all, heretical,’ [Robert] Jeffress, the pastor of 14,000-member First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas told Fox News, ‘and it contradicts the most basic tenet of the Christian faith and demonstrates how tone-deaf the left is to faith issues’…

“MRCTV says, ‘this isn’t the first time that CNN has aired anti-religious rhetoric,’ pointing to what Cuomo told his viewers at the end of last week. ‘If you believe in one another and if you do the right thing for yourself and your community, things will get better in this country. You don’t need help from above,’ he said at the conclusion of Friday’s show. ‘It’s within us.’”

More Nonsense from the LAT:

On July 14, the Los Angeles Times published a commentary by Jody Rosen, recommending to “cancel the Star-Spangled Banner” and replace it with an appropriate piece as America’s new national anthem. The following was stated:

“‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ — like, for that matter, ‘America the Beautiful’ … is out of step with the 21st century… Irving Berlin’s ‘God Bless America’ [and] its uncomplicated patriotism… doesn’t wash in 2020. ‘This Land Is Your Land’… has its own blind spots: to indigenous Americans, the refrain ‘This land belongs to you and me’ may sound less like an egalitarian vision than a settler-colonialist manifesto. Nope, none of these songs will do.”

And so, the nonsense continues.

From Hagia Sophia to Al Aqsa?

Breaking Israel News reported on July 12:

“On Friday, a Turkish court annulled a 1934 ruling that turned the Hagia Sophia into a museum, effectively paving the way for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to fulfill his promise to turn the formerly Christian site into a mosque… Immediately after the court ruling, Erdogan signed a decree declaring Hagia Sophia was now open to Muslim worship and the first prayers inside could take place on July 24. Erdogan reiterated his claim that Hagia Sophia was originally constructed as a mosque…”

The Jerusalem Post wrote on July 11:

“Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to ‘liberate al-Aqsa mosque’ from Israel after ‘resurrecting Hagia Sophia’ as a mosque on Friday.

“The decision to change the status of the ancient Hagia Sophia church, which had been transformed into a mosque in 1453 and then into a museum in 1934, was made controversially last week. It follows an increasingly religious authoritarian agenda from Ankara that has made Turkey the world’s largest jailer of journalists, seen dissidents imprisoned for ‘terrorism’ and witnessed increasing military invasions of neighboring countries by Turkey.

“The resurrection of Hagia Sophia heralds the liberation of the al-Aqsa mosque, the Turkish Presidency website says… The speech, which was in Turkish, was translated slightly differently to Arabic and English, apparently as a way to hide part of Ankara’s full views on how it has linked Hagia Sophia to a wider agenda. In Arabic the speech says that turning Hagia Sophia into a mosque is part of the ‘return of freedom to al-Aqsa,’ essentially meaning Israel should be ejected from controlling Jerusalem’s Old City where al-Aqsa is located.

“Turkey’s president linked the decision to reviving Islam from Bukhara in Uzbekistan to Andalusia in Spain. This terminology, linking al-Aqsa in Jerusalem to Hagia Sophia and Spain, is a kind of coded terminology for a wider religious agenda… Turkey’s current president has long championed the Palestinian cause and been an extreme critic of Israel… Linking the major change at Hagia Sophia to Jerusalem illustrates that Ankara’s ambitions are far larger than just reasserting Islamic prayers at the historic mosque and church in Istanbul; it is part of a larger Islamic agenda for the region.

“Turkey’s ruling AK Party is rooted in the Muslim Brotherhood and Turkey is a close ally of Hamas in Gaza. Hamas is also rooted in the Muslim Brotherhood… Ankara’s leadership believes that its changes to Hagia Sophia are only one step of a larger religious militarist agenda in the Middle East… One day, Turkey could even aim its sights at Jerusalem. The speech about Hagia Sophia clearly indicated this is on the agenda in the future.”

The Bible confirms that Turkey will engage in mean and hostile acts against Israel. God is strongly condemning Turkey for such conduct.

Breaking Israel News reported on July 14:

“The United Nations came out strongly against the Turkish government turning Haga Sophia, built as the most prominent church of its time, into a mosque. But many people, Jews and Christian, noted that UNESCO was being hypocritical since it has a long history of supporting Muslim appropriation of Jewish sites in Israel…

“Elias Zarina, an Israeli Christian Arab and co-founder of the Jerusalemite Initiative [said:] ‘What Erdogan just did to Hagia Sophia and it will not stop there, Muslims have been doing to Christians all through history. This is what the Muslims did to the Temple Mount; they built a Muslim building on top of the ruins of the Jewish Temple and now Jews are forbidden from going there or praying there. And UNESCO went along with it, perpetuating the Muslim lie that the Temple Mount is only a holy site for the Muslims.’”

The Right of the Sword

Newsmax wrote on July 12:

“For Turkey’s religious conservatives, ‘converting the Hagia Sophia is the ultimate moment,’ said Mustafa Akyol, a senior fellow specializing in Islam and modernity at the Cato Institute, a Washington think tank. ‘They believe in what they call the right of the sword, the right of the Ottomans to convert the church into a mosque as a result of conquest,’ Akyol said.

“‘Turkey has the sovereign right to do what it wants. But I ask them: What will you say if Israel does something to Al Aqsa? Will that also be the right of the sword?’”

The “Right of the Sword” points to war. The Bible predicts of course that war WILL occur soon in the Middle East. Also note the next article.

Erdogan’s Move Threatens Christianity

The Associated Press wrote on July 10:

“The move threatens to deepen tensions with neighboring Greece, whose prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, condemned the decision as an affront to Hagia Sophia’s ecumenical character… ‘This decision clearly affects not only Turkey’s relations with Greece but also its relations with the European Union, UNESCO and the world community as a whole.’

“In Greece’s second-largest city, Thessaloniki, protesters gathered outside a church that is modeled on Hagia Sophia and bears the same name. They chanted, ‘We’ll light candles in Hagia Sophia!’ and held Greek flags and Byzantine banners. Cyprus ‘strongly condemns Turkey’s actions on Hagia Sophia in its effort to distract domestic opinion and calls on Turkey to respect its international obligations,’ tweeted Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides.

“Vladimir Dzhabarov, deputy head of the foreign affairs committee in the Russian upper house of parliament, called the action ‘a mistake.’ ‘Turning it into a mosque will not do anything for the Muslim world. It does not bring nations together, but on the contrary brings them into collision,’ he said… Garo Paylan, an ethnic Armenian member of Turkey’s Parliament tweeted that it was ‘a sad day for Christians (and) for all who believe in a pluralist Turkey.’ ‘The decision to convert Hagia Sophia into a mosque will make life more difficult for Christians here and for Muslims in Europe,’ he wrote…

“On Friday, Archbishop Elpidophoros of America said the decision runs counter to the vision of secular Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk ‘who understood that Hagia Sophia should serve all Turkey’s people and indeed the whole world.’ ‘The days of conquest should remain a closed chapter of our collective histories,’ he told The Associated Press…

“Erdogan, a devout Muslim, has frequently used the Hagia Sophia issue to drum up support for his Islamic-rooted party…

“Built under Byzantine Emperor Justinian, Hagia Sophia was the main seat of the Eastern Orthodox church for centuries, where emperors were crowned amid ornate marble and mosaic decorations. The minarets were added later, and the building was turned into an imperial mosque following the 1453 Ottoman conquest of Constantinople — the city that is now called Istanbul. The building opened its doors as a museum in 1935, a year after the Council of Ministers’ decision. Mosaics depicting Jesus, Mary and Christian saints that were plastered over in line with Islamic rules were uncovered through arduous restoration work for the museum. Hagia Sophia was the most popular museum in Turkey last year, drawing more than 3.7 million visitors.”

While Turkey will escape the hands of the “beast” or the “king of the North” and ultimately assist Europe in fighting Israel, Erdogan’s fanatic and radical Muslim policy will anger and be of concern for many Christians.

Conflicting Reports from Israel re Potential Lockdown

JTA wrote on July 14:

“Israel’s Health Ministry is considering ordering Israelis to limit their Rosh Hashanah celebrations to only their nuclear families… The order would come with a total lockdown of Israeli cities for the High Holidays, a repeat of the Passover closure policy…

“The Makor Rishon newspaper first reported on Monday that Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority will allow non-citizens to enter Israel to attend life-cycle events including weddings, births, and bar and bat mitzvahs. Advance coordination and proof of health insurance, including for COVID-19, is required, as is a two-week isolation for the visitors, who can include the relatives’ spouses and children who are under the age of 1…

“Israel’s current ban on the entrance of non-citizens is in effect until Aug. 1.”

Bloodbath at Church in South Africa

The Daily Mail wrote on July 12:

“Five people have been killed and dozens arrested in an ongoing church massacre in Johannesburg. The bloodbath took place at the International Pentecost Holiness Church in Zuurbekom, and specialised police and a heavily-armed national defence force remain at the scene. It is believed the killings came amid a leadership battle at the church, as officers scrambled to the church at 3am local time following reports that 200 people were taken hostage…

“The International Pentecost Holiness Church, which has a membership of three million, has become divided in its search for a successor to former leader Glayon Modise. He died in February 2016 without appointing a successor… The clashes have led to several court battles over the years. It has not yet… been confirmed if today’s hostage situation relates to the ongoing row.

“In November 2018 two church factions confronted each other outside the church’s Silo headquarters… Churchgoers at the time reported being narrowly hit by bullets…”

If true, these would be horrible developments pertaining to a church claiming to be representing Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.

Duda Wins in Poland

Deutsche Welle wrote on July 13:

“Polish President Andrzej Duda has won the country’s presidential election… The right-wing politician will lead Poland for five more years… Cultural issues dominated the campaign trail, with the government, state media and the influential Catholic church all ultimately coming out in support of Duda, a social conservative… In the weeks leading up to the election, the president’s rhetoric shifted farther to the right. He seized on gay rights as a key theme, denouncing the LGBT+ rights movement as an ‘ideology’ worse than communism…

“Duda also tapped into anti-Semitic tropes in his characterization of his rival as someone who would sell out Polish families to Jewish interests. Poland had been home to Europe’s largest Jewish community before it was decimated by Germany in the Holocaust…

“‘Poland is split down the middle,’ said Witold Orlowski, a professor at Warsaw University of Technology Business School. ‘On the one hand, even this slim victory is a PiS success and will allow it to continue to govern, at least technically,’ Orlowski said. ‘On the other hand the social and economic situation will deteriorate and a large part of the electorate will blame the PiS.’

“In 2017, the EU launched unprecedented proceedings against Poland over changes to the country’s judicial law made on Duda’s watch that could see its EU voting rights suspended.”

We would expect that catholic Poland will be a part of the final European constellation of the ancient Roman Empire.  

Pope Francis’ Prayer to the “Virgin Mary”

Herald Malaysia wrote on July 11:

“Pope Francis offered Mass asking the Virgin Mary to help Christians recognise the face of Christ in each migrant and refugee…

“Invoking the new Marian title [Solacium migrantium, ‘Solace or Comfort of Migrants,’] added to the Litany of Loreto in June, Pope Francis prayed for the migrants who are in detention camps in Libya and elsewhere who are often subject to abuse and violence.”

One of her titles is also the “Queen of Heaven”, which was adopted from the pagan goddess Ishtar or Astarte. We know of course that the Mary of the Bible is dead and in her grave, awaiting the resurrection from the dead to eternal life in the God Family at the time of Christ’s return.

Required Qualities for the Next Pope?

National Catholic Reporter wrote on July 14:

“New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan has forwarded copies of a book that suggests qualities desirable in a future pope to cardinals across the globe, in an apparent break with the longstanding practice that the Catholic Church’s highest prelates refrain from publicly lobbying for possible candidates for the papacy… The book is George Weigel’s The Next Pope: The Office of Peter and a Church in Mission, released by the publisher this month…

“Pope John Paul II [wrote in] the 1996 apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis:… ‘I … forbid anyone, even if he is a Cardinal, during the Pope’s lifetime and without having consulted him, to make plans concerning the election of his successor, or to promise votes, or to make decisions in this regard in private gatherings’…

“Dolan’s note accompanying Weigel’s book is dated June 9, signed by the cardinal, and printed on letterhead featuring Dolan’s coat of arms. It appears to have been sent to all 222 of the world’s cardinals… Weigel does not specifically propose names of cardinals to consider as a possible future pope in his book, but he does suggest characteristics and qualities that would be desirable in the next pontiff. Weigel also makes several veiled criticisms of Francis…

“Upon the death or resignation of a pope, all cardinals under the age of 80 are tasked with gathering in Rome to elect his successor. At present there are 122 such cardinals, including Dolan.”

About half of Oklahoma Belongs to Native Americans

BBC News reported on July 10:

“The US Supreme Court has ruled about half of Oklahoma belongs to Native Americans, in a landmark case that also quashed a child rape conviction. The justices decided 5-4 that an eastern chunk of the state, including its second-biggest city, Tulsa, should be recognised as part of a reservation… Thursday’s decision… is seen as one of the most far-reaching cases for Native Americans before the highest US court in decades. The ruling means some tribe members found guilty in state courts for offences committed on the land at issue can now challenge their convictions. Only federal prosecutors will have the power to criminally prosecute Native Americans accused of crimes in the area. Tribe members who live within the boundaries may also be exempt from state taxes… Some 1.8 million people – of whom about 15% are Native American – live on the land, which spans three million acres.

“Justice Neil Gorsuch, a conservative appointed by US President Donald Trump, sided with the court’s four liberals and also wrote the opinion. He referred to the Trail of Tears, the forcible 19th Century relocation of Native Americans, including the Creek Nation, to Oklahoma. The US government said at the time that the new land would belong to the tribes in perpetuity. Justice Gorsuch wrote: ‘Today we are asked whether the land these treaties promised remains an Indian reservation for purposes of federal criminal law. Because Congress has not said otherwise, we hold the government to its word.’…

“In a dissenting opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts said the decision would destabilise the state’s courts. He wrote: ‘The State’s ability to prosecute serious crimes will be hobbled and decades of past convictions could well be thrown out. The decision today creates significant uncertainty for the State’s continuing authority over any area that touches Indian affairs, ranging from zoning and taxation to family and environmental law.’”

The decision of the US Supreme Court does not address land ownership.

Trump to Open Up Citizenship for Dreamers?

Fox News wrote on July 11:

“President Trump said Friday that he will be signing an executive order in the next few weeks which will include a ‘road to citizenship’ for… DACA… recipients… ‘I have the power to do it as president…’ Trump said… Trump, who has pledged to end DACA since he was on the campaign trail in 2015 when he called the program an ‘illegal executive order,’ said that the bill wouldn’t just be for temporary relief but would be a far more encompassing merit-based bill. DACA currently serves as a protection for young immigrants that were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, also referred to as Dreamers, to allow them to legally study, work and remain in the U.S. without fear of deportation. While it is unclear whether the president can grant DACA recipients a path to citizenship through executive powers, he stated it is his intention Friday…

“Trump’s announcement comes just weeks after the Supreme Court 5-4 ruling that rejected Trump’s attempt to dismantle the program for young immigrants. It said that the administration had not provided proper legal justification to end the program [instituted] by former President Barack Obama in 2012. Trump took to Twitter to express his anger about the ruling at the time. ‘These horrible & politically charged decisions coming out of the Supreme Court are shotgun blasts into the face of people that are proud to call themselves Republicans or Conservatives,’ Trump tweeted…

“President Trump and a bipartisan group of senators hit a stalemate in January 2018 after a compromise immigration bill was presented that would protect DACA recipients. But Trump would not agree to the measure because it did not include a provision for the U.S.- Mexico border wall, eventually leading to the longest government shut down in U.S. history.

“Trump first submitted his appeal to the Supreme Court in January 2018 after a federal judge blocked the president’s attempt to terminate DACA. The Supreme Court then began oral arguments for the case in November 2019, which prompted Trump to tweet, ‘Many of the people in DACA, no longer very young, are far from “angels.” Some are very tough, hardened criminals.’”

Trump’s position on DACA has been extremely inconsistent and contradictory, to say the very least.

In another interesting development, Deutsche Welle reported on July 14 that “The Trump administration has dropped a proposed rule that would have required international students to leave the US if their college classes were held entirely online this fall…

“[Several universities, including Harvard] challenged the Trump administration’s decision [in court]… US District Judge Allison Burroughs in Massachusetts said the US government as well as Harvard University and MIT had reached a settlement that would make the rule moot.”

Germany: Rich Economy “Über Alles”

Deutsche Welle wrote on July 11:

“Economy and Energy Minister Peter Altmaier defended Germany’s continuing trade relationship with China, following the passing of a controversial new security bill in Hong Kong. ‘It has always been the policy of the Western international community, including the EU, that international trade relations cannot be based solely on how democratic a country is,’ Altmaier told national newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. ‘We have never done that,’ he stressed, adding this was not even official policy in the times of Willy Brandt or Joschka Fischer – Germany’s former Social Democratic chancellor and Green party foreign minister respectively.

“With regard to Sino-German relations, Berlin has long adhered to the principle of ‘change through trade’ (‘Wandel durch Handel’ in German), hoping that increased business ties may lead to more democratic structures in China. China implemented Hong Kong’s so-called national security law at the end of June that covers offenses such as succession, subversion of state power, local terrorist activities and collaborating with foreign forces to endanger national security. It also gives China greater legal jurisdiction in the semi-autonomous territory… Critics fear it will quash dissent and jeopardize Hong Kong’s special status within China.”

Germany is the richest economy in Europe. No surprise there.

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.

California’s Ongoing Persecution of Churches

Breaking Israel News wrote on July 5:

“People in California can still attend their house of worship. But they are now being warned against singing or chanting during services… although California Governor Gavin Newsom initially allowed religious institutions to reopen in late May, the state is now saying that these institutions should ‘strongly consider discontinuing singing, group recitation, and other practices and performances… California’s health department… says that both singing and chanting are outright banned.

“California Senator Melissa Melendez cynically to the ban saying: ‘Singing, chanting and group recitation now banned in church by order of King Newsom. So basically you can go, you just can’t actually participate in active religious activities. But hey, shout “defund the police” all you want.’ Texas senator Ted Cruz (R) called the move ‘Grossly, transparently unconstitutional.’”

It is also grossly, transparently ungodly and violates the direct command of the Bible to SING to GOD (and not just “silently”) in Church services. Please see our booklet on that injunction, titled, “How to keep the Sabbath.” Also note our Q&A, “Do you have guidelines for proper appearance and conduct in your worship services?” Note also our Q&A on music. 

We must obey God rather than men (see our new booklet on this topic).

The published comments to the above-quoted article were more than telling. Here are a few examples:

“Is it not ironic that the week we celebrate our freedom from King George III and Britain’s tyranny that the governor of California bans singing in public worship?! The freedom of worship is a constitutional protected right! Did the tyrant Gavin Newsom ban protests? Nope.”

“Now they are trying to prevent the Faithfull from praising the LORD , a time is coming when they will prevent the world from owning a HOLY BIBLE!!”

“Gavin Nuesence is the one who is spreading disease , the disease of ignorance and socialism / communism!”

“God created us to worship him. How dare man decree otherwise. God inhabits the praise of his people. This is a satanic move.”

“The devil, and his demons continue to have his way, for a while longer, until King Jesus returns.”

Church Leaders Oppose Newsom

Newsmax wrote on July 6:

“Faith leaders are decrying California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ban last week on singing in houses of worship due to a surge in coronavirus cases… California’s new guidelines state that places of worship must ‘discontinue singing and chanting activities and limit indoor attendance to 25 percent of building capacity or a maximum of 100 attendees, whichever is lower,’ as health officials point to singing as a proven way to spread a virus.

“Sean Feucht, a pastor in Northern California, started a ‘Let Us Worship’ petition on his website, comparing Newsom to Pharoah by reading a verse from Exodus, ‘This is what the Lord says, “Let my people go, so that they may worship me.”

“He shared a post on Instagram showing images of him leading ‘illegal worship’ in Iraq in 2016, in North Korea in 2010, and in California on Friday, writing ‘Never in my life would I believe that it would be California in 2020.’ Feucht called the order an ‘unprecedented attack’ on the freedom of worship and said he is defying the ban. ‘Tens of thousands of people have been gathering outdoors in cities all across California and they have been screaming and chanting and protesting [as state officials encourage them],’ Feucht said, adding ‘can you see the hypocrisy? … It really is time that we take a stand and that we fight back.’

“Other faith leaders made similar protests, including Pastor Les Simmons of South Sacramento Christian Center, who told KCRA that in ‘the black culture, singing in churches goes all the way back from 400 years ago during slavery up until now. Singing was our thing that got us through.’”

CNN wrote on July 3:

“While the California Department of Public Health strongly recommends places of worship should continue to facilitate remote services, in-person services are currently permitted in California if proper measures are followed… Offering plates and similar items that move between people at places of worship have also been temporarily discontinued.”

This is dangerous conduct in the eyes of God! AND it constitutes hypocrisy. Note the next article.

Newsom’s New Order Conveniently Excludes Napa Valley

The Sun wrote on July 3:

“California Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday ordered wineries in 19 counties to close amid surging coronavirus cases — but his own winery and tasting room remains open…

“Indoor operations at restaurants, wineries, and tasting rooms, family entertainment centers, movie theaters, zoos, museums, and cardroom gambling businesses were ordered to close down. The updated coronavirus restrictions apply to 19 counties, including Los Angeles, that have been on the state’s monitoring list because of an increasing number of cases for three straight days… But… Newsom’s winery and tasting room in Napa Valley — PlumpJack Wines — is still open… Newsom found PlumpJack Wines in 1992 as his first business… The winery’s next available tasting is on Tuesday, per the venue’s website, which explains their new rules and guidances amid the pandemic…

“Newsom owns stock in PlumpJack Group, ‘which includes a winery in Napa Valley’s Oakville’… Newsom’s 2018 tax filings show he and his wife own shares in the group, which brought in a combined salary of almost $600,000 in 2018. As of Wednesday, Napa County, where the winery is located, had reported 344 coronavirus cases, and was not included in the list of 19 counties.”

The current website of napavalley.com, updated July 7, states this:

“Starting Thursday, July 9th, businesses offering indoor activities must suspend services. However, Napa Valley wineries and tasting rooms with outdoor tasting areas, restaurants with outdoor seating, and other attractions that operate outdoors REMAIN OPEN. In addition, Napa Valley hotels have been permitted to remain open as well…”

Newsom Ramps Up Enforcement

On the other hand, the Los Angeles Times reported on July 6:

“Gov. Gavin Newsom… said Monday the state will expand monitoring of counties hard-hit by the virus after cracking down on restaurants and bars ignoring restrictions over the Fourth of July weekend… Newsom said that state agents from the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control visited close to 6,000 restaurants and bars during the holiday weekend. In addition, officials from the Division of Occupational Safety and Health contacted 440,000 other businesses to ensure they heeded the tougher restrictions on indoor activities for most of the state…

“The changes come amid growing concern about Newsom’s response to the outbreak, including sometimes-harsh critiques in the San Jose Mercury News and the Sacramento Bee in recent days… State Sen. Steven Glazer (D-Orinda) said Newsom reopened the state too quickly… Newsom on Monday refuted that…”

It appears that Newsom, in order to refute the criticism against him, wants to resort to even more autocratic and dictatorial destructive measures… with the exception, of course, of Napa Valley wineries. Newsom’s mandates systematically destroy the entire Californian economy. Californians should be able to see what is really going on. But do they?

Coming… Civil War in the USA?

The Drudge Report linked to the following article by shtfplan from July 7:

“In my view, it is clear that the political left has gone so far off the rails into its own cultism that there is no coming back. There can be no reconciliation between the two sides, so we must separate, or we must fight… War is probably inevitable…

“… the political left is a tool for a greater agenda. They are being used as a weapon of chaos by globalist interests. This is not ‘conspiracy theory’, this is a conspiracy fact. Millions of dollars have poured into Antifa and BLM related groups… Globalist institutions like these have been influencing the extreme left and promoting identity politics for DECADES… The reason for the agenda should be obvious: Chaos creates fear. Fear creates division and crisis. And, crisis creates opportunity… the extreme left is going to start a war because that’s exactly what the global elites created them for…

“A civil war that will tear America apart… When the left comes for us (and they will), the fight has to be won by us, not government. We cannot hand even more power to government in the name of security. We cannot become the fascists the leftists accuse us of being…

“Furthermore, I am not convinced there will even be an election in November. With pandemic lockdowns surely returning as infections spike once again… voting in a traditional fashion will be difficult or restricted in some states. And, mail-in or digital ballots will not be accepted by most conservatives because of their history of being used to rig election outcomes… If Trump ‘wins’, or delays the election, the left will riot and a civil war will be triggered. Conservatives will have to deal with the violence of the left while also dealing with the potential for martial law (which we cannot tolerate or support either)… if Trump is still in the White House in 2021, get ready to fight back against leftist mobs as well as martial law measures… If Biden enters the White House, expect him to immediately implement unconstitutional policies including medical tyranny, gun confiscation, and martial law. Either way, it ends in war…”

Sadly, this is exactly what may happen.

Terrible Consequences of Coronavirus Restrictions in Israel

Breaking Israel News reported on July 6:

“A [special] report on the situation in Israel… which covers March to May 2020… reviews the condition of 4,800 teens who suffer from emotional anxiety, eating disorders, depression, mental crises, severe loneliness and have even made suicide attempts. There was also a sharp increase in reporting of verbal and sexual violence among the youth compared to previous year. The situation also pushed more youths into drinking alcohol and taking drugs… The guidelines for lockdown may be dangerous for those for whom the home is not a safe place…

“The number of homeless teens who were thrown out of their family homes rose 47% above the 2019 figure… while those who fled from their homes numbered 145. The number of teens who tried to kill or seriously injure themselves was 231. A total of 143 had an encounter with the police. The prevalence of eating disorders (anorexia and other types) rose by 50%. The number of teens who contacted ELEM because of anxiety increased by 43%, because of hunger 13%, loneliness 29%, physical and/or verbal violence at home (up 7%, a 70% rise compared to the same period in 2019) and sexual violence (almost twice that of 2019).”

The curse of governmental dictatorship.

Australia Closes Borders

Reuters wrote on July 4:

“The border between Australia’s two most populous states will close from Tuesday for an indefinite period as authorities scramble to contain an outbreak of the coronavirus in the city of Melbourne… The decision announced on Monday marks the first time the border between Victoria and New South Wales has been shut in 100 years. Officials last blocked movement between the two states in 1919 during the Spanish flu pandemic…

“The move will, however, likely be a blow to Australia’s economic recovery as it heads into its first recession in nearly three decades. The number of COVID-19 cases in the Victorian capital of Melbourne has surged in recent days, prompting authorities to enforce strict social-distancing orders in 30 suburbs and put nine public housing towers into complete lockdown.”

We received the following report from our minister in Australia, Paul Niehoff:

“Starting from tomorrow night, all of Melbourne goes into six weeks of lockdown again. We can only go out for shopping, work if unable to work from home, exercise and medical reasons. Food must be take-away. Fortunately masks are not necessary. Panic buying has begun again even though there is absolutely no shortage of food or toilet paper. This time we can go fishing, boating or surfing and even play golf or tennis, but must not go to regional Victoria. We are not allowed to have visitors, but intimate partners are allowed to visit, which is interesting. We still hope to attend the Feast but at the moment it is wait and see.”

“As for the country, mostly only Australian citizens are allowed to come here and on arrival must go into hotel quarantine for fourteen days at government expense.”

Trump: 99% of Coronavirus Infections Totally Harmless

Times of Israel wrote on July 5:

“The president repeated his claim that the high number of cases found is a result of a high test rate among the population. ‘Now we have tested almost 40 million people,’ Trump said. ‘By so doing, we show cases, 99% of which are totally harmless. Results that no other country can show because no other country has the testing that we have, not in terms of the numbers or in terms of quality.’”

Of course, the left-wing mass media attacks Trump because of his comments to one end. The question is, who is right.

The Sun wrote on July 8:

“Donald Trump has waged war against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s ‘impractical’ school reopening policies a day after slamming Dr Anthony Fauci. Trump railed against the guidelines released last week by the CDC and revealed on Wednesday morning that he plans to meet with the federal agency about their ‘expensive guidelines.’”

Deliberate Falsification of Covid “Cases”?

Dr. Ron Paul wrote on July 6 in the Ron Paul Institute:

“On July 2nd, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order mandating the wearing of face masks across the state, whether indoors or outdoors, when six feet cannot be maintained between people. In the governor’s decree, he cited a rise in Covid cases, a rise in test positivity, and a rise in hospitalizations as justification to force people to cover their faces in public.

“The move is not only a violation of the civil liberties of all Texans. Abbott may have based his executive order on inaccurate information about a ‘rise’ in Covid cases due to the Texas State Department of Health Services changing the definition of what constitutes a ‘Covid case.’

“Thanks goes to Collin County Judge Chris Hill for blowing the whistle on what appears to be a move in mid-May to redefine what was a ‘Covid’ case to open the door to a massive increase – all to match the mainstream media line that a ‘second wave’ was on the way. In a Commissioners Court hearing for Collin County on May 18th, it was revealed that while previously the determination of a Covid ‘case’ was a confirmed test result, the definition was suddenly changed to count ‘probable’ cases as ‘cases.’ At the same time, the threshold for determining ‘probable’ was lowered to a ridiculous level.

“As Judge Hill said at that May 18th meeting, ‘If you have a subjective fever and you have a headache and you live in Collin County, you now meet the qualifications to be a probable COVID patient. It is remarkable how low the standard is now.’ Even worse, once a ‘probable’ case was determined based on possibly unrelated subjective criteria, up to 15 people in possible contact with that ‘probable’ case were also listed as ‘probable cases.’ And ‘probable cases’ were considered cases. Repeat that farce across Texas and is it any wonder there was a ‘spike’ in ‘cases’?

“Also, Governor Abbott’s claim that hospitals were being over-run by Covid patients was refuted by the Houston hospital directors themselves, who said they were nowhere near actual capacity and in fact were about the same level as they were last year… It is encouraging to see so many local and county officials across Texas announcing they will refuse to enforce Governor Abbott’s unconstitutional face mask order…

“The ‘second wave’ is driven by propaganda. Across the country, Covid testing increased from about 150,000 to more than 700,000 per day. You can’t drive through Houston without seeing a flurry of signs advertising ‘Free Covid test! Results in 15 minutes!’ Last week Reuters reported that tests shipped around the country by the federal government were contaminated.

“Deaths from coronavirus – even the deaths ‘with’ coronavirus rather than deaths ‘from’ coronavirus – are down more than 90 percent since the peak in April. The decline in deaths continues. That means we are closer to the ‘herd immunity’ that will finally kill this virus. Yet Governor Abbott and others across the country see this as a reason to lock the country back down.”

Wow! But will anybody listen and THINK in the light of the ongoing mass-media propaganda, claiming the exact opposite?

Trump’s Remarkable 4^th of July Speech

Breaking Israel News wrote on July 5:

“US President Donald Trump gave a historic speech at Mount Rushmore on Saturday celebrating America’s Independence Day. His Fourth of July address invoked God in many instances including the right to life for babies in the womb saying: ‘We believe in equal opportunity, equal justice, and equal treatment for citizens of every race, background, religion, and creed. Every child, of every color — born and unborn — is made in the holy image of God.’

“The president also lauded the Judeo-Christian values that the nation was founded on noting: ‘We are proud of the fact that our country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, and we understand  that these values have dramatically advanced the cause of peace and justice throughout the world… We know that the American family is the bedrock of American life’…

“And as rioters and vandals are now toppling statues, President Trump issued a dire warning that ‘Those who seek to erase our heritage want Americans to forget our pride and our great dignity, so that we can no longer understand ourselves or America’s destiny. In toppling the heroes of 1776, they seek to dissolve the bonds of love and loyalty that we feel for our country, and that we feel for each other. Their goal is not a better America, their goal is the end of America.’”

Trump also said that we will only kneel in front of God.

The Guardian wrote on July 4:

“[Trump also said:] ‘We are now in the process of defeating the radical left, the Marxists, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters, and people who in many instances have absolutely no clue what they are doing… ‘We will never allow an angry mob to tear down our statues, erase our history, indoctrinate our children or trample on our freedoms … We will teach our children to cherish and adore our country so they can build its future. Together, we will fight for the American dream.’ Trump pointedly said ‘our way of life’ began in 1492 ‘when Columbus discovered America’. Statues of Christopher Columbus have been toppled along with those of Confederate generals during several weeks of protest…”

Deutsche Welle added on July 4:

“The United States is ‘witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values, indoctrinate our children,’ President Donald Trump said… ‘In our schools, our newsrooms and even our boardrooms, there is a new far-left fascism,’ he said…”

That is true in many other parts of the Western World as well.

The 4th of July 2020 Experience

The Associated Press wrote on July 4:

“It was the worst of times. It was the weirdest of times. It was a season of sickness and shouting, of defiance and tension, of industrial-strength falsehood and spin. It was a moment of ugliness and deep injustice… many things make this particular Fourth of July different.

“It comes after millions of Americans have been forced to [be] stuck at home [for months], in some cases losing their jobs, being economically stressed, fearing a horrifying death, feeling both trapped and unable to access the ‘normal’ life they remember…  Many are dead. Many more are confused. Many are deeply angry at each other and at the system. Many are terrified. Many have simply had enough…”

Very true.

In Defense of John Wayne

 Fox News wrote on or about June 30:

“John Wayne’s son is speaking out after California Democrats in Orange County recently demanded that the county’s John Wayne Airport be renamed and all likenesses of Wayne be removed from the airport, over ‘racist and bigoted statements’ made by the American icon decades ago…

“In a statement to Fox News on Monday, Ethan Wayne said: ‘Let me make one thing clear — John Wayne was not a racist… There is no question that the words spoken by John Wayne in an interview [with Playboy] 50 years ago have caused pain and anger… They pained him as well, as he realized his true feelings were wrongly conveyed… The truth is, as we have seen in papers from his archives, he did not support “white supremacy” in any way and believed that responsible people should gain power without the use of violence…

“‘Those who knew him, knew he judged everyone as an individual and believed everyone deserved an equal opportunity… He called out bigotry when he saw it. He hired and worked with people of all races, creeds, and sexual orientations. John Wayne stood for the very best for all of us — a society that doesn’t discriminate against anyone seeking the American dream… [It] would be an injustice to judge him based on a single interview, as opposed to the full picture of who he was… One thing we know – if John Wayne were here today, he would be in the forefront demanding fairness and justice for all people… He would have pulled those officers off of George Floyd, because that was the right thing to do…’”

The hypocrisy of the BLM movement and many of those politicians and celebrities supporting it is beyond description.

No More Master Bedrooms?

The Daily Mail wrote on July 4:

“The term ‘master bedroom’ will no longer be used by dozens of estate agents in England due to its allusions to sexism and slavery. Agents across London and the south will ditch the term in order to appeal to younger, socially conscious buyers. They will instead be introduced to the ‘primary’ or ‘principal’ bedroom reported The Times.”

According to Express, dated July 6, “the famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes has been denounced as a racist in the wake of the Black lives Matter movement.” The paper asks: “So will his statue be next to be toppled?”

When insanity rules…

Germany’s Condemnation of Israel—a Day of Shame

Breaking Israel News wrote on July 5:

“… the ‘grand coalition’ consisting of the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democrats (SDP), along with the Free Democrats (FdP) from the opposition… vote[d] on a non-binding resolution to condemn Israel over plans to extend sovereignty over Israeli-controlled areas in the West Bank/Judea and Samaria, a [move] often dubbed ‘annexation.’ The debate was symbolically timed on the day from which Israel could execute the move (but hasn’t yet) and in which Germany assumed the presidency of the Council of the European Union…

“Marcel Goldhammer, a journalist with both German and Israeli citizenship [protested the move, saying:] ‘Germany killed 6 million Jews in World War II, in the Holocaust, and now Germany wants to tell Israel how to defend its security’… He also slammed Germany’s alleged funding of NGOs that support or excuse Palestinian terrorism, saying, ‘Shame on you!’

“The only political opposition came from the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD), which abstained from the motion largely on the grounds that Germany shouldn’t tell Israel what to do…”

Germany’s Hypocritical Bundestag

The Jerusalem Post added on July 4:

“The mass-circulation Bild paper blasted the German parliament on Friday for its condemnation of the Jewish state for seeking to exercise sovereignty over disputed parts of the West Bank. ‘Commentary on the decision against Israel’s policy: ‘You treat friends differently,’ read the headline of the editorial by Louis Hagen. ‘The Bundestag discussed internal borders in Israel. It is grotesque. Because the outcome of the debate was already certain. The Bundestag presents Israel as a threat to stability in the Middle East. It warns that Israel’s actions have “significant effects on the peace process,”’ wrote Hagen. ‘What peace does Israel endanger? There is no peace in the Middle East that could be endangered,’ he added. ‘As long as Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas and all the other neighbors from Syria to Jordan want to more or less wipe the Jewish state off the map. As long as the “moderate” Palestinian government in the West Bank pays terrorists life-long pensions.’

“The editorial declared that ‘unfortunately, we only hear the voice of the German Bundestag when it comes to criticizing Israel. Human rights violations by the Palestinians, in Iran, in Syria, in Egypt – one hears very little of that… We needed a clear commitment to our deep friendship and solidarity with the only democracy in the Middle East. What has now been decided is an embarrassing pretense and not a friendly act. Friends are treated differently,’ the editorial concluded.

“The Bundestag has not condemned Turkey for its occupation of North Cyprus, China for its occupation of Tibet, and Russia for its annexation of Crimea…”

Deep down inside, Germany is NO supporter of Israel OR the Jewish people… and it has never been.

In These Times of Conflict, Europe Must Boost Its Defense

The Parliament Magazine wrote on July 6:

“Addressing Parliament’s Security and Defence Subcommittee, [French Armed Forces Minister Florence] Parly said the newly-created European Defence Fund (EDF) needed sufficient funding to help boost Europe’s defence… Parly said, ‘Europe should not just be an assembly of building blocks but a real force and for this we need the European Defence Fund… That is why France, Germany, Spain and Italy have written to the High Representative Josep Borrell because we need an ambitious EDF more than ever… A peaceful Europe is not a given and we see threats to our security every day. There are considerable conflicting forces at the gates of Europe including increasing tensions between the US and China, and the erosion of treaties – all of this taking place at a time of great instability… The security situation has considerably worsened in our neighbourhood, including in Turkey and Libya… ‘We cannot hide the fact we are not happy with Russia’s role in Libya…

“Parly, in a reference to a possible ‘European Army’, said, ‘we must be able to act together. Yes, we must not forget national interests, but we need to make sure we are able to react together. For example, we have 17 different types of tanks in Europe while the US has just one. We could, and should, better pool our efforts on resources like this… Germany is a key partner and one of the countries which are really committed to building European defence and ambitious projects. I am sure it will live up to these expectations…’

“Committee chair Nathalie Loiseau, a French RE member, said… ‘Conflicts have not abated but increased and Europe has been targeted by fake news campaigners and cyber-attacks. EU-US tensions have taken hold and all this has plunged us into uncertainty. But Europe must not be a mere observer to such events but be at the table and step up its level of ambition on security and defence.’”

A European army is coming… the handwriting IS on the wall… but most are too blind to see it.

Conscription to Be Reintroduced in Germany?

Deutsche Welle reported on July 7:

“The German parliament’s new center-left military commissioner wrongfooted a number of her colleagues on Saturday by calling for the reintroduction of conscription. It had been a ‘big mistake’ to get rid of mandatory military service in 2011, Eva Hoegl, a Social [Democrat] (SPD) told the Funke Media Group… Högl immediately won support from… Germany’s biggest far-right party. This was the ‘first meaningful proposal by the SPD for many years,’ said Rüdiger Lucassen, the Alternative for Germany’s (AfD) defense spokesman. ‘Now all she has to do is convince her own party and the CDU,’ he said.

“The conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) was indeed in an awkward position. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party traditionally supports the Bundeswehr and long held on to the need to continue conscription… The CDU’s defense spokesman Johann Wadephul offered a cautious welcome for the general idea of re-opening a debate on military service…

“German men were forced to serve in the army from the age of 18 but could claim moral objections to military service, and opt to do civilian national service instead. Conscription was introduced in postwar Germany, with the idea of  ‘citizens in uniform’ serving as a bulwark against extremist tendencies.”

Russia and China Combine Forces in Opposition to Trump

CNN wrote on July 5:

“Russia and China have effectively re-aligned the coming world order. They… both took advantage of uncertainty and unpredictability that Trump has helped create… This past week…  Putin has effectively been made President for life, as Xi has moved equally ruthlessly, taking control of Hong Kong through a new national security law, while telling US allies Canada, Australia and the UK to keep out of China’s internal affairs.

“Both seem to be of the view the US has neither the will nor the consistency to put up resistance. Indeed, Trump’s White House gave evidence of exactly that this week, floundering for a coherent response to allegations Russia paid the Taliban to kill US forces in Afghanistan. The Russian Embassy in Washington and the Taliban have both denied the claims…

“Only this week German Chancellor Angela Merkel… appeared to reject Trump’s China tactics, saying ‘only together can the 27 EU member countries have enough weight to achieve ambitious deals with China.’…

“Hong Kong’s new National Security Law, promulgated in Beijing this week and immediately enforced on the territory’s streets, is a game changer. According to the UK, it breaks the 1984 joint Sino-British declaration of one country-two systems….”

A powerful MILITARY collaboration of Far Eastern nations—including Russia and China, and probably others, including Japan, India, Pakistan, the Philippines and South and North Korea—is prophesied.

China Threatens the UK

The Guardian wrote on July 2:

“China has said it will take countermeasures against the UK should it grant residency to Hongkongers fleeing a harsh new national security law, promising that the UK would ‘bear all consequences’. On Thursday, senior Chinese officials said the UK had no right to give residency to Hongkongers in response to Beijing forcing a sweeping anti-sedition law on the territory… Zhao’s comments came after the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, said he would honour a promise to offer nearly 3 million residents of the former British colony… the right to settle in the UK…

“[China said:] ‘The UK has no sovereignty, jurisdiction or right of “supervision” over Hong Kong.’…

“On Thursday, the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, said his country was working on a scheme to provide a safe haven to Hong Kong residents after China’s ‘very concerning’ decision…

“The UK foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has admitted there is little Britain can do to ‘coercively force’ China if it tries to block Hongkongers from coming to the UK….

“But the scale of the UK’s coming diplomatic challenge was highlighted when China claimed 53 countries had put their names to a Cuba sponsored statement at the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday supporting the Chinese government’s new security laws in Hong Kong. The UK had touted the support of 27 mainly European and Asian countries. China’s support group included 15 African countries, left and right wing autocracies and a smattering of the Gulf monarchies normally close to the UK. The list underlined how the UK has lost sway in Africa over the past 5 years to China. Many of the European countries that did back the UK did so nervously fearing criticism of China might lead to a trade backlash…

“The security law in Hong Kong… criminalises a broad swathe of behaviours deemed as secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces. Critics say the law gives authorities sweeping new powers to crack down on dissent and a new level of Chinese control over the semi-autonomous territory.”

The UK should have never given up Hong Kong, but it was prophesied to happen.

Putin Mocks American Rainbow Flag

Times of Israel wrote on July 4:

“Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday mocked a rainbow LGBT pride flag hung from the US embassy in Moscow [to celebrate Pride Month in June], suggesting it reflected on the orientation of the diplomats…

“Putin on Friday signed amendments to the constitution backed by a national vote that include a clause on marriage being between a man and a woman, aimed at preventing legalization of gay unions. The president said Friday however that Russia does not discriminate against people on the basis of sexual orientation. He said a law banning promotion of homosexual relationships to minors, which he signed in 2013 to a storm of international condemnation, aimed simply to prevent the ‘foisting’ of such relationships on children. The law has been used as a pretext to ban gay pride events…

“The British embassy in Moscow also flew a rainbow flag…”

Note the shameful contrast expressed in the next article—shameful for what is happening in Germany.

Incredible! German Pastor Charged with Incitement for Anti-Homosexual Comments!

Deutsche Welle wrote on July 2:

“A Protestant pastor in the German city of Bremen has been charged with incitement for comments he made about homosexuality, authorities said. The pastor allegedly described homosexuals as criminals and homosexuality as ‘a form of degeneration of society,’ the dpa news agency reported. ‘It makes people insecure, destroys civilization and culture,’ he allegedly said and also warned about the existence of a so-called ‘homolobby.’

“The pastor made the controversial remarks at a seminar in October on the subject of marriage. An audio recording of the seminar was available online for several months on the social media platform YouTube. It has long since been taken down.

“Prosecutors considered some of the comments to be examples of criminal incitement, arguing that they disturb public peace and incite hatred towards a group based on sexual orientation. Authorities also said the comments were an attack on human dignity.

“In his defense, the pastor denied referring to homosexuals when he spoke of criminals. Instead, he claimed to be talking about ‘militant aggressors’ who have attacked and defamed the church. Following the incident, the Bremen Evangelical Church distanced itself from the comments and launched disciplinary proceedings against the pastor.”

Homosexual pedophiles ARE criminals, and the practice of homosexuality IS called an “abomination” in the Bible. Germany’s Protestant Church in Bremen does not stand as a beacon for the values of God.

UN Security Council Calls of Global Ceasefire, with the Support of Pope Francis

CNA wrote on July 5:

“Pope Francis applauded the United Nations Security Council Sunday for its recent resolution calling for an immediate global ceasefire amid the coronavirus pandemic… The ceasefire resolution applies to conflicts in Yemen, Syria, Libya, South Sudan, and Congo… It demands ‘a durable humanitarian pause for at least 90 consecutive days’ to ensure that medical and humanitarian aid will reach those in need as the coronavirus continues to spread. The 15 countries that make up the Security Council passed the resolution July 1 after months of disagreement between China and the United States…

“The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres first called for a global ceasefire on March 23 with Pope Francis echoing this appeal the following week… [The Pope said:] ‘May Mary, the humblest and highest of creatures, implore from God wisdom of the heart for us…’”

Mary, the “humblest and highest of [God’s] creatures”??? Also, the UN words and resolutions for a global ceasefire are meaningless.

After Queen Elizabeth II… Charles or William?

Geo News wrote on July 4:

“Queen Elizabeth II has reportedly turned down calls for Prince William to take over the throne after her instead of his father Prince Charles. According to royal expert Victoria Arbiter, many in the United Kingdom are longing to see the Duke of Cambridge become the next King before Prince Charles after the abdication of Her Majesty…

“Simon Vigar, a correspondent to Channel 5 however, claimed that despite being in-demand, the monarch would never allow that to happen. ‘The Queen doesn’t believe in breaking the rules, she does not want Charles to step aside when she passes. William doesn’t want that to happen,’ he said…  William’s youth, charisma and his modernization of the monarchy make him one of the most popular and admired members of the British royal family.”

Will there even be another king in the UK before the Great Tribulation starts? And if so, will it be Charles or William?

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.

Merkel’s Views on Europe, Britain, the USA and Russia

The Guardian wrote on June 26:

“As the rotating presidency of the EU council passes to Germany on 1 July, the country’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, sat down for an interview…

“‘It is very much in all the member states’ own interests to maintain a strong European internal market and to stand united on the world stage. In such an extraordinary situation, I rely on the member states having a great interest in the things that unite us… It is in Germany’s interest to have a strong internal market and to have the European Union grow closer together, not fall apart. As ever, what’s good for Europe is good for us…

“‘Without a doubt, European law has precedence over national law – but that does not tell us where the realm of European law begins and ends. The essence of the European Union lies in the member states transferring powers…

“‘It would, of course, be in Britain’s and all EU member states’ interests to achieve an orderly departure. But that can only happen if it is what both sides want. What matters is not our wishes but only the reality before us, in other words first of all what Britain wants. With Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the British government wants to define for itself what relationship it will have with us after the country leaves. It will then have to live with the consequences, of course, that is to say with a less closely interconnected economy. If Britain does not want to have rules on the environment and the labour market or social standards that compare with those of the EU, our relations will be less close… We need to let go of the idea that it is for us to define what Britain should want. That is for Britain to define – and we, the EU27, will respond appropriately….

“‘We in Germany know that we have to spend more on defence; we have achieved considerable increases in recent years, and we will continue on that path to enhance our military capabilities. American troops in Germany help to protect not only Germany and the European part of Nato but also the interests of the United States of America… There are compelling reasons to remain committed to a transatlantic defence community and our shared nuclear umbrella. But of course Europe needs to carry more of the burden than during the cold war. We grew up in the certain knowledge that the United States wanted to be a world power. Should the US now wish to withdraw from that role of its own free will, we would have to reflect on that very deeply….

“‘… we recognise hybrid warfare, methods of destabilisation, as a Russian behaviour pattern. On the other hand, there are good reasons to keep engaging in constructive dialogue with Russia…’”

In her usual “diplomatic” way, Angela Merkel expresses very timidly Europe’s concern about America’s lack of reliability. The following articles express this concern in much more drastic ways. But what we should also glean from this interview is the strong desire for European strength and power. This will also be expressed more clearly in the articles to follow.

“The World Is Putting America in Quarantine”

The Week wrote on June 25:

“Europe… is looking at America with slackjawed horror… Around the world, it is beginning to sink in how profoundly rotten the United States is. Unless America manages to turn things around, it will slide from the center of the international order to a peripheral, mistrusted basketcase…

“When faced with a problem, most top politicians in both parties think first about how they can shift blame to others or appear the victim of circumstance…”

Trust in the USA Is Gone

The Local wrote on June 29:

“Some 63 percent of Italians, 61 percent of French people, and 52 percent of Spaniards said that the EU has not lived up to its responsibilities… But that did not mean there is an increased desire to see the European project fail. In fact a majority in all countries surveyed believed there was a need for greater European cooperation after the pandemic ‘The share of respondents who held this belief was as high as 91 percent in Portugal and 80 percent in Spain… In France, Sweden, and Denmark, more than half of respondents approved of greater cooperation at the European level. In Italy, 77 percent did,’ read the survey…

“Strikingly the survey also revealed a steep deterioration in the European perception of Donald Trump’s America. More than 60 percent of respondents in Germany, France, Spain, Denmark and Portugal said they had lost trust in the United States as a global leader… ‘Now, Europeans’ trust in Trump’s America is gone…’ the study wrote. ‘Europeans have accepted the fact that Trump’s America is not necessarily a friend of Europe in a time of need. Europeans’ view of China has also worsened since the pandemic….”

This European perception regarding the USA will have terrible consequences.

Most US Travelers Barred from EU

MSN wrote on June 26:

“The European Union will bar most travelers from the United States, Russia and dozens of other countries considered too risky because they have not controlled the coronavirus outbreak…

“The exclusion of the United States, an important source of tourism to the European Union, represented a stinging rebuke to the Trump administration’s management of the coronavirus scourge… The list will be updated every two weeks, raising the possibility that excluded countries will be added… officials said the United States and other nations had been lobbying intensely to get on the safe list.

“The United States, which banned most EU travelers in March when the virus was raging in Europe, has not eased its own restrictions since then… Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, asked Thursday about the prospect of a prolonged ban on American travel to Europe, struck a conciliatory tone but said that many European countries were eager to admit American visitors… ‘We’ve heard from a dozen or more countries that have very different views about their willingness to open up their borders to anyone, not only folks from the United States of America,’ he said…

“While the new list is not legally binding, member states that open up to excluded countries face the risk that their EU partners will close their borders to them… Seven million Americans visited Europe between June and August last year…

“The full list finalized Friday includes Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay, Andorra, San Marino, Monaco and the Vatican. China will be included if it also opens its borders to EU travelers, as reciprocal reopening is one of the criteria used to make the final selection for the safe list. Britain, despite having left the EU, is still being considered part of the bloc until year’s end, and so was not part of the discussion over outside visitors.”

In spite of the fact that some European countries depend heavily on American tourists, the EU wants to exclude the USA in obvious retaliation for Trump’s many political actions and pronouncements which the EU rejects. The pandemic concerns are a welcome “justification” for European politics.

Breitbart wrote on June 30:

“European politicians claimed that the decision was not political… While the EU has maintained the ban was made based on which countries had worse containment of the virus, the movement may be seen as a move towards a tit-for-tat spat with the United States. In March, President Donald Trump banned travel from the European Union over the bloc’s failure to contain the spreading Chinese virus… Eurocrats reacted with anger, claiming that President Trump had treated the continent as a ‘scapegoat’, blaming ‘nationalism’ for provoking the U.S. travel ban…”

European Lawmakers Strongly Oppose Israel and USA

JTA wrote on June 25:

“More than 1,000 lawmakers from throughout Europe signed a letter opposing Israel’s plans to annex parts of the West Bank and calling for ‘commensurate consequences.’ More than 240 of the signers are British legislators… Other lawmakers come from 25 countries including Belgium, Sweden, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands.

“The letter, which was sent to the countries’ foreign ministers, says the lawmakers ‘share serious concerns about President Trump’s plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the imminent prospect of Israeli annexation of West Bank territory.’ The letter adds: ‘Failure to adequately respond would encourage other states with territorial claims to disregard basic principles of international law. The rules-based global order is central to Europe’s own long-term stability and security.’…

“On Wednesday, seven European countries said in a statement in the United Nations that annexation of any part of the West Bank ‘would have consequences for our close relationship with Israel and will not be recognized by us,’ The Jerusalem Post reported. The statement was signed by the five European nations that are currently members of the Security Council — France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Estonia — and the incoming Security Council members, Ireland and Norway.

“The Trump peace plan allows for Israel to annex up to 30% of the West Bank and calls for negotiations toward a Palestinian state. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will put annexation into motion after July 1.”

Europe is outing itself more and more against Israel and the USA. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz emphasized that the annexation has been planned for some time “after July 1,” not “on” July 1.

Vatican Gets Involved

Breaking Israel News wrote on July 2:

 “The Vatican announced that it had summoned the envoys of both Israel and the United States on Wednesday for meetings to oppose Israel’s plans to assert sovereignty over parts of Judea and Samaria within the framework of Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’. In two separate meetings on Tuesday, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin warned US Ambassador Callista Gingrich and Israeli Ambassador Oren David of the possibility of war… ‘regarding possible unilateral actions that may further jeopardize the search for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, as well as the delicate situation in the Middle East.’”

Iran and Turkey to Attack Israel?

Breaking Israel News wrote on June 28:

“The notion of a joint Iran-Turkey invasion of Israel is a realistic scenario according to several Middle East experts… Both Ankara and Tehran have been cooperating in various Middle East conflicts including their opposition to American involvement in Syria as well as battling Kurdish dissident groups. And the once rivals also now share a hatred of Israel combined with the support of Hamas which could translate into a united front in a potential war against Israel…

“One example is how Turkey’s Religious Affairs Ministry has threatened to mobilize the Muslim community against Israel to protect Jerusalem against annexation. Similar sentiments have been heard from Tehran as Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, called for ‘armed resistance’ (against Israel) on May 21… Hamas is currently funded by Turkish-backed Qatar and the two maintain very close diplomatic ties….

“Turkey and Iran were diametrically opposed due to their religious differences with Iran being strongly Shia and Turkey being strongly Sunni… ‘Sometimes, Sunni and Shia cooperate against a common enemy,’ Dr. Kedar said, noting that Iran, fanatically Shia, funds Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, fanatically Sunni, against Israel, the small devil, and the US, the great devil.’… ‘For economic and trade, Iran and Turkey can get along quite well,’ Dr. Aviv said. ‘In Turkish culture, there are no “friends”. There are only common interests. This is especially true of foreign powers. They have an expression that there is no friend for a Turk other than another Turk. There are agreements, agendas, and goals but no real alliances. This allowed Turkey to stay out of World War II until the very end. This allows them to be a member of NATO but still buy Russian military hardware when it suits them… What this means for the US, Israel, and other countries is that… if their interests suddenly demand, they can become an enemy overnight.’”

Turkey will turn out to become a violent and mean enemy of the state of Israel and the USA.

EU and Germany Should Threaten Military Intervention in Libya

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 29:

“The European Union should threaten to intervene militarily in the Libyan civil war if necessary, Wolfgang Ischinger, the head of the Munich Security Conference, said in an interview on Monday. ‘Europe could throw its military weight into the equation in order to achieve a cease-fire,’ Ischinger told newspapers of the Funke media group. ‘Diplomacy often remains mere rhetoric if you are unable to use the threat of military action as leverage in international conflicts.’

“As Germany prepares to take on the rotating EU presidency on July 1, the bloc must speak ‘the language of power’ to better represent its interests. ‘This requires Germany, too, to learn the language of power,’ he said… Germany’s diplomatic appeals were largely ignored, because for the acting powers in the conflict, such as Russia, Turkey and Egypt, ‘whoever is in charge of the military is the one in charge,’ said Ischinger.”

Europe, under German leadership, WILL speak the language of power very soon… resulting in the Great Tribulation.

Ukrainians for Putin

The Associated Press reported on June 29:

“Residents of separatist-controlled regions in eastern Ukraine who have Russian citizenship are travelling to Russia to vote on constitutional amendments that would allow President Vladimir Putin to remain in power until 2036… Some of the voters told The Associated Press that the constitutional changes would boost the powers of the Russian authorities and bring peace to the separatist region in eastern Ukraine. Others expressed hope that the changes would allow separatist republics to become part of Russia…

“Over 220,000 Ukrainians living in areas held by Russia-backed rebels received Russian passports last year, after Putin signed a decree expediting citizenship applications from residents of the self-proclaimed republics… More than 150,000 residents of eastern Ukraine have expressed a desire to cast a ballot in the vote on the constitutional reform…”

Ukraine WILL become part of Russia, or at least collaborate with Russia AGAINST Europe.

Larger and More Aggressive Military Force in Australia

ABC News reported on June 30:

“Australia will build a larger and more aggressive military focused on its immediate backyard, including new long-range missiles [as well as cyber capabilities and a high-tech underwater surveillance system], signalling a major shift in the nation’s defence strategy… Prime Minister Scott Morrison [emphasized] a greater focus on the Indo-Pacific region, warning Australia needs to prepare for a post-COVID-19 world that is ‘poorer, more dangerous and more disorderly’…

“‘The strategic competition between China and the United States means that there’s a lot of tension in the cord and a lot of risk of miscalculation,’ Mr Morrison [said]… ‘And so we have to be prepared… to respond and play our role to protect Australia, defend Australia… When they talk about the bad behaviour that’s happening in the region, the annexation of territory, coercion, the influencing of domestic politics, the use of cyber attacks – it’s really only one country which is doing that at industrial levels, and that’s the People’s Republic of China.’”

Breitbart added on July 1:

“China has warned its students and tourists against going to Australia, slapped trade sanctions on Australian goods and sentenced an Australian citizen to death for drug trafficking. Beijing has laughed at Australia’s long alliance to the U.S. through war and peace, deriding it as something to be ridiculed.”

Bleak Picture of Global Economy

The Hour wrote on June 24:

“The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday painted a bleak portrait of the global economy, saying the coronavirus pandemic has caused more widespread damage than expected and will be followed by a sluggish recovery. The global economy will shrink this year by 4.9%, worse than the 3% decline predicted in April, the IMF said. No major economy is escaping the pandemic. The U.S. economy, the world’s largest, is expected to shrink this year by 8%. Countries that use the single European currency are headed for a decline of more than 10%… By the end of next year, the pandemic will have cost the global economy $12.5 trillion in lost output, she added…

“Fund officials blamed the darker forecast on the effects of social distancing; scarring to global production capacity from the lockdown of activity; and the productivity cost of new safety and hygiene rules… The forecast assumes countries will not reimpose comprehensive lockdowns even if the pandemic flares up again…”

As we can see from this report, measures employed in fighting the coronavirus have been causing a terrible global economic downfall.

Cuomo and de Blasio Church Lockdown Orders Knocked Down by Federal Judge

Newsmax wrote on June 26:

“An order by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio to limit the size of church services has been struck down by a federal judge. The preliminary injunction pointed out that Cuomo and de Blasio undercut their claim that lockdown orders were ‘generally applicable’ by encouraging large protests against police brutality while discouraging large church gatherings… [The judge] said that… de Blasio couldn’t make a ‘legitimate’ claim that he isn’t biased against people of faith.

“‘Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio could have just as easily discouraged protests, short of condemning their message, in the name of public health and exercised discretion to suspend enforcement for public safety reasons instead of encouraging what they knew was a flagrant disregard of the outdoor limits and social distancing rules’ [the judge] wrote. ‘They could have also been silent. But by acting as they did, Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio sent a clear message that mass protests are deserving of preferential treatment.’”

Indeed they have done so, and the court decision is just and fair.

Abortion Activists Win Before US Supreme Court

The Associated Press wrote on June 29:

“The Supreme Court on Monday struck down a Louisiana law regulating abortion clinics, reasserting a commitment to abortion rights over fierce opposition from dissenting conservative justices in the first big abortion case of the Trump era. Chief Justice John Roberts joined with his four more liberal colleagues in ruling that the law requiring doctors who perform abortions have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals violates the abortion right the court first announced in the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 1973…

“In dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote, ‘Today a majority of the Court perpetuates its ill-founded abortion jurisprudence by enjoining a perfectly legitimate state law and doing so without jurisdiction.’ President Donald Trump’s two appointees, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, were in dissent, along with Justice Samuel Alito…

“Roberts’ vote was a bit of a surprise because he voted in [another] case to uphold [such] clinic restrictions… Roberts didn’t write anything explaining his position at the time, but he had never before cast a vote on the side of abortion rights.”

 John Roberts is clearly becoming THE political voice for the liberal US Supreme Court justices.

Catholic Archbishop Condemns Abortion Decision

Breitbart wrote on June 30:

“The chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ committee for pro-life activities denounced Monday’s Supreme Court decision that perpetuates the ‘cruel precedent’ of prioritizing the abortion industry over women’s health and well-being… ‘Abortion violently ends the life of a child, and often severely harms women,’ writes Kansas City Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann in a statement… ‘As Catholics, we condemn abortion as a grave injustice that denies the fundamental human right to life…’

“In his powerful dissent to the ruling, Justice Clarence Thomas not only criticized the court’s decision, he also said that the landmark 1973 case Roe v. Wade that trampled states’ rights and imposed abortion-on-demand on the entire country needs to be revisited and overturned, a position echoed by the U.S. bishops… ‘Roe is grievously wrong for many reasons, but the most fundamental is that its core holding—that the Constitution protects a woman’s right to abort her unborn child—finds no support in the text of the Fourteenth Amendment,’ he noted.

“The Court’s grotesque judicial travesty in Roe v. Wade is further exacerbated by Monday’s ruling, the bishops contend. ‘The Court’s failure to recognize the legitimacy of laws prioritizing women’s health and safety over abortion business interests continues a cruel precedent,” Archbishop Naumann declares… ‘We will not rest until the day when the Supreme Court corrects the grave injustice of Roe and Casey and recognizes the Constitutional right to life for unborn human beings,’ the archbishop concludes.”

Racial Discrimination in California

The Wall Street Journal published the following article on June 25:

“… while deploring racism, the Democratic Legislature in California has voted to codify racial discrimination in state law. On Wednesday the state Senate voted for a constitutional amendment, ACA 5, that would reintroduce racial preferences for who gets a state job or contract, or who is admitted to a state university.

“The state Assembly previously passed the measure, which means the amendment will be on the November ballot. It would repeal Proposition 209, which voters approved in 1996 and outlawed racial bias in state policy. The repeal effort received a boost from the killing of George Floyd, no matter the irony of voting for discrimination by race in the name of eliminating discrimination by race.”

The Fight against Racism

Newsmax reported on June 28:

“Princeton will remove President Woodrow Wilson’s name from its prestigious public policy school and a residential college [because of his “racist” and “segregationist views”]… ‘The Simpsons’ will no longer have white actors voicing the roles of non-white characters… part of a push by animated shows to be more sensitive to matters of race and avoid stereotypes… leaders of Orange County’s Democratic Party are pushing to drop film legend John Wayne’s name, statue and other likenesses from the county’s airport because of his racist and bigoted comments…”

The Daily Mail wrote on June 29:

“Donald Trump bashed Princeton University’s trustees on Monday for their decision to nix the 28th president’s name from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs… He also claimed Democrats are being ‘stupid’ in pushing for actor John Wayne’s name and statue to be removed from an airport in Orange County, California. ‘Can anyone believe that Princeton just dropped the name of Woodrow Wilson from their highly respected policy center,’ the president tweeted Monday morning. ‘Now the Do Nothing Democrats want to take off the name John Wayne from an airport. Incredible stupidity!’”

JTA wrote on June 26:

“Amid the nationwide movement to take down memorials to Confederacy figures, two Charlotte synagogues are calling for the removal of a downtown monument to Judah Benjamin, a Jewish politician who served as a Cabinet member for the Confederate government.”

Sharpton’s Views on Confederate Monuments

Newsmax wrote on June 25:

“Al Sharpton said… that public statues featuring Confederate soldiers are insulting to African Americans, who along with all taxpayers, are footing the bill for the upkeep of the public monuments… Sharpton said the Confederate monuments should be replaced with statues of people who ‘fought and defeated them, not the ones who were defeated.’

“He then posed a question to World War II veterans in order to explain how many Blacks are feeling. ‘How would a World War II veteran feel about paying taxes to have a statue of Mussolini or Hitler in their public square?’ Sharpton asked.”

Napolitano’s Views on Historical Monuments

On June 25, Newsmax published the following article by Judge Andrew Napolitano:

“I am amazed at the efforts around the country to remove and destroy painful mementos of our history…

“When a statue is erected to an historical figure, the erection is a statement about the balance of the person’s life worth. It is not a claim of perfection. The Father of our Country owned more than 100 slaves. When the Capital of the U.S. was in Philadelphia, at a time when all slaves were deemed by Pennsylvania law to be freed after six months of their entry into the state, George and Martha Washington — he, the president of the United States at the time — rotated their slaves into and out of the state, so that none would qualify for freedom. The same man who wrote in the Declaration of Independence that ‘all men are created equal’ also fathered numerous children with one of his 600 slaves.

“Do you think Sally Hemings was free to reject a years-long sexual union with Thomas Jefferson, the man who owned her? And the author of the Constitution, who owned at least 100 slaves, defended his exploitation of them into his presidency. The same James Madison who artfully and articulately defended natural rights for white people, hardly considered Blacks to be in the same category. Should we really forget the three of them?…

“The police brutality of Blacks in America today is the natural progression and extension of the government hypocrisy that brought about and protected slavery. We need to reverse that progression. But we cannot reverse the memory of it. We need to be reminded from time to time of our horrible past so that we can labor mightily to avoid repeating it. Does this mean changing the names of federal institutions? Does it mean tearing down statues of the long-dead because we finally realized that there was more evil than good in some of them?… Once we start pulling down statues — whether of Robert E. Lee or Christopher Columbus or Theodore Roosevelt — there will be no end.

“… pretending that these figures never existed, or eradicating the memory of the good they performed, will continue the march toward… self-delusion that escapes reality. We must live in the real world where bad men did good things and good men did bad things — and intelligent people recognize this. You… cannot escape the consequences of escaping reality. Those consequences will be the inevitable repetition of a past we should never forget.”

Indeed, not learning from the mistakes of the past means that they will have to be repeated.

The Term “Lightening” Racially Offensive?

Fox News reported on June 27:

“Industry-leading French cosmetics company L’Oreal announced they will be removing words like ‘whitening’ and ‘lightening’ from their products after a number of beauty brands received backlash for their skin-lightening products amidst ongoing protests for racial equality. ‘The L’Oreal Group has decided to remove the words white/whitening, fair/fairness, light/lightening from all its skin evening products,’ the company said in a statement..

“L’Oreal’s promise for change comes a day after consumer products leader Unilever announced they’d be changing the name of their ‘Fair & Lovely’ cream that is popular in Asia for skin lightening. The product reportedly generated $500 million in revenue in India last year… but the brand says they are working to acknowledge how their terminology and branding perpetuates racist stereotypes… Still, the company holds that the Fair & Lovely range ‘has never been, and is not, a skin bleaching product.’”

Pretty soon, with that rationale and extreme way of thinking, few words will be left which will not in some way and in the minds of some “perpetuate racial stereotypes” in one form or another. Note the following:

The Daily Mail wrote on June 30:

“A historic 400-year-old British pub named ‘The Black Boy’ is set to be renamed in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests. The pub in Sevenoaks, Kent, will soon be called ‘The Restoration’ in a nod to King Charles II – who was restored as the monarch in 1660 following the period of Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth. The pub name ‘The Black Boy’ is believed to be a reference to the 17th century monarch who is said to have been nicknamed ‘Black Boy’ by his mother, Henrietta Maria of France, due to his dark hair and complexion.”

In addition, thepeoplescube.com reported that “Australia’s taxpayer funded public broadcaster ABC is facing ridicule after announcing it would host a debate asking if chess is racist because the white team traditionally gets to go first under the rules of the game.”

Violent Riots in Oregon

The Associated Press wrote on June 26:

“The mayor and newly appointed police chief of Portland, Oregon, on Friday sharply criticized protesters who set fire to a police precinct and vandalized businesses the night before, saying continued violence at protests is preventing the city from moving forward with meaningful reform. Early Friday, a group of several hundred demonstrators set fire to the North Precinct building while people were inside and barricaded the doors after they were unable to break in through a garage… Police in riot gear used CS gas, a type of tear gas, around 2:15 a.m. to disperse the crowd….

“Newly appointed Police Chief Chuck Lovell, who is black, also criticized protesters’ tactics in a tweet Friday. He said earlier this week that demonstrations have cost the city $6.2 million so far and that cost does not include straight-time pay for officers pulled from other jobs to work at protests…

“Thousands of people have turned out every night for nearly a month in this liberal Pacific Northwest city since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Most protesters are peaceful, but smaller numbers of people break away most nights and set small fires, tear down fences and statues and clash with police, Lovell said…

“The nonprofit Don’t Shoot Portland and two protesters sued the city, seeking to ban the use of tear gas to disperse large crowds. A federal judge on June 9 issued a 14-day court order barring the launching of the riot-control agent except when a life is at risk. The judge extended the temporary order through July 24.”

These kinds of riots are taking place all over the country and in other parts around the world (note the next article). They are placing police officers in an untenable and unmanageable position.

The Daily Mail wrote on June 29:

“A guillotine has been set up by protesters outside the Washington DC home of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos demanding the company he founded be abolished. A number of videos have been posted to social media that show an old fashioned piece of apparatus commonly used for beheading during the French Revolution. A sign placed underneath read: ‘Support our poor communities. Not our wealthy men.’”

Britain’s BLM Problems

Douglas Murray wrote in Mail on Sunday on June 27:

“Depressingly, what is happening to our police is symbolic of wider social unrest. It is as if Britain is suffering a mental breakdown – with all the values and links that bind us together being torn apart… The violent lawlessness last week followed disturbances across the country as protesters acting under the banner of Black Lives Matter brought the worst and most divisive aspects of American identity politics to the UK. They ushered in the disturbing sight of it seeming to be completely acceptable for people to get away scot-free with defacing or destroying any public monument that isn’t to their liking.

“Despite strong words of condemnation, ministers shamefully stood by and allowed this to happen. Unprotected by the Government, police chiefs felt obliged to hold back – or even in some cases watch as their under-attack officers ran away. … At the core of this pressure-cooker atmosphere is… a shocking failure of nerve by almost everybody in a position of authority –from politicians, the police, our religious leaders and broadcast media.”

Now note in the next article the shocking failure of nerve—or worse—by the head of the Church of England.

England’s Head of Church of England Recommends to Reconsider Jesus

 The Daily Mail wrote on June 26:

“In a wide-ranging interview, [the Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the Church of England] revealed he would be reviewing statues at Canterbury Cathedral [and] urged the West to reconsider its prevailing mindset that Jesus was white, and pointed to different portrayals of Christ as Black, Middle Eastern and Chinese in different countries.”

The Daily Mail wrote on June 30:

“A painting of the Last Supper featuring a black Jesus will replace a Nativity scene at St Albans Cathedral to show solidarity with Black Lives Matter. The Dean has agreed to install the 9ft piece of artwork on the altar after conceding that the church is in a weak position to preach about racial justice. Titled A Last Supper, the painting reworks Da Vinci’s renowned 15th century mural by casting a Jamaican-born model as Christ.”

What incredible insanity and blasphemy! Christ was a JEW!

Obama and Biden Celebrate Gay Pride Month

Breitbart wrote on June 26:

“Barack Obama and Joe Biden took part Friday in a virtual Gay Pride Month celebration… They were joined by prominent A-list celebrities including Taylor Swift, Ellen DeGeneres, George Takei, and Katy Perry… ‘You know, Pride is particularly poignant this year,’ the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said.

“‘Even as the LGBTQ+ rights continue to be attacked, the Supreme Court has affirmed protections for the LGBTQ+ people against unemployment discrimination. Even as the lives of trans individuals,  especially black trans women, are under threat, we’re reminded that Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera helped bring life to the movement… Against the backdrop of the pandemic and historic protests against systematic injustice and racism, we are reminded of those courageous individuals who first marched decades ago and renewed our hope.’…

“Barack Obama appeared in a separate segment in which the former president encouraged people to protest as a way of illuminating ‘injustice.’ He also noted that the Stonewall riots paved the way for gay marriage, which the Supreme Court made legal five years ago. As a presidential candidate, Obama was opposed to gay marriage, saying in 2008 ‘I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage.’ As president, Obama later changed his view on the controversial topic, saying that he was in favor of it. ‘The struggle and triumph for LGBTQ rights shows how protest and politics go hand in hand, how we’ve got to both shine a light on injustice and translate those aspirations into specific laws and institutional practices,’ he said Friday.”

Shining an approving light on what is wrong in God’s eyes is not what the Bible means when it tells us to be lights in the world. But there seem to be no limits for spiritual lawlessness. Note the next article.

“Burger Queer” in Honor of “Pride Month”

Unilad wrote on June 27:

“Burger King Mexico has changed its name to Burger Queer and adopted new, rainbow-patterned branding in support of Pride Month. The social media pages for the Mexican branch of the fast food chain changed their look yesterday, June 26, in an effort to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and recognise the month-long event, which takes place in June. The company incorporated the celebration into its own branding as it posted a new Facebook cover photo, patterned with multi-coloured moustaches in the same shape of that on the face of the Burger King logo, and with the words ‘your way’ written in Spanish over the top…

“Alongside their new branding, the company encouraged people to come in and order one of its products in order to ‘receive the crown of the #BurgerQueer Pride in a very special packaging.’”

Man’s ways are not God’s ways.

The Guardian reported on June 29: “Thousands of protesters marched in central London to celebrate the black trans community…”

When does it end?

The American Decline

Bloomberg published the following opinion piece by Noah Smith on June 29, 2020:

“The U.S.’s decline started with little things that people got used to. Americans drove past empty construction sites and didn’t even think about why the workers weren’t working, then wondered why roads and buildings took so long to finish. They got used to avoiding hospitals because of the unpredictable and enormous bills they’d receive. They paid 6% real-estate commissions, never realizing that Australians were paying 2%…

“When writers speak of American decline, they’re usually talking about international power… To most Americans, those are distant and abstract things that have little or no impact on their daily lives…

“In addition to worrying about their jobs and livelihoods, Americans must now be subjected to months of images of Italians casually walking around on the streets while they cower in their houses. It’s a painful and stark demonstration of national decline. Even more galling, [U.S.] citizens can no longer travel freely around the world…

“But the consequences of U.S. decline will far outlast coronavirus. With its high housing costs, poor infrastructure and transit, endemic gun violence, police brutality and bitter political and racial divisions, the U.S. will be a less appealing place for high-skilled workers to live. That means companies will find other countries in Europe, Asia and elsewhere a more attractive destination for investment, robbing the U.S. of jobs, depressing wages and draining away the local spending that powers the service economy. That in turn will exacerbate some of the worst trends of U.S. decline — less tax money means even more urban decay as infrastructure, education and social-welfare programs are forced to make big cuts. Anti-immigration policies will throw away the country’s most important source of skilled labor and weaken a university system already under tremendous pressure from state budget cuts.

“Almost every systematic economic advantage possessed by the U.S. is under threat… The U.S. has long enjoyed a so-called exorbitant privilege as the financial center of the world, with the dollar as the lynchpin of the global financial system. That means the U.S. has been able to borrow money cheaply, and Americans have been able to sustain their lifestyles through cheap imports. But if enough investors — foreign and domestic — lose confidence in the U.S.’s general effectiveness as a country, that advantage will vanish.

“If capital begins to abandon the U.S. and the dollar in large amounts, the currency will crash and Americans will find themselves paying much more for everything from cars to televisions to gasoline to imported food. Interest rates will be raised in an attempt to lure back investment capital, and the country might undergo a period of stagflation worse than the 1970s. Large-scale unrest would undoubtedly result and — in the worst-case scenario — the U.S. could collapse like Venezuela.

“This is an outcome… that is no longer out of the realm of possibility… If the U.S. goes from rich, world-straddling colossus to floundering dysfunctional developing nation…, it will be one of the most spectacular instances of civilizational decline in world history…”

But it IS prophesied to happen. The USA is destroying itself from the inside. It will also be destroyed from the outside.

Coronavirus Causes Delirium?

The New York Times wrote on June 29:

“To a startling degree, many coronavirus patients are reporting [strange] experiences. Called hospital delirium, the phenomenon has previously been seen mostly in a subset of older patients, some of whom already had dementia, and in recent years, hospitals adopted measures to reduce it… Now, the condition is bedeviling coronavirus patients of all ages with no previous cognitive impairment. Reports from hospitals and researchers suggest that about two-thirds to three-fourths of coronavirus patients in ICUs have experienced it in various ways. Some have ‘hyperactive delirium,’ paranoid hallucinations and agitation; some have ‘hypoactive delirium,’ internalized visions and confusion that cause patients to become withdrawn and incommunicative; and some have both…

“When [a patient] was first placed on the ventilator, doctors used a lighter sedative, propofol, and dialed it down for hours so he could be awake and know where he was… But then [his] respiratory failure worsened. His blood pressure plummeted, a condition propofol intensifies. To allow the ventilator to completely breathe for him, doctors had him chemically paralyzed, which required heavier sedatives to prevent the trauma of being conscious while unable to move. So [the patient’s] sedation was switched to midazolam, a benzodiazepine, and fentanyl, an opioid — drugs that exacerbate delirium.”

From this article, it seems that it is not the coronavirus which causes delirium and worse, but the treatments and medications given to the patient.

500,000 Confirmed Deaths, 10 Million Confirmed Cases

The Associated Press wrote on June 29:

“The world surpassed two sobering coronavirus milestones Sunday — 500,000 confirmed deaths, 10 million confirmed cases — and hit another high mark for daily new infections as governments that attempted reopenings continued to backtrack and warn that worse news could be yet to come…

“The true death toll from the virus, which first emerged in China late last year, is widely believed to be significantly higher. Experts say that especially early on, many victims died of COVID-19 without being tested for it… Overall the US still has far and away the most total cases. At more than 2,450,000 – roughly twice that of Brazil…”

But are these figures accurate and true? Note the next articles.

Coronavirus–A Created “Pandemic”?

On June 26, the Ron Paul Institute published the following article:

“… the CARES act does direct a 20% bonus Medicaid payment to hospitals for every diagnosis of Covid19, and a greater payment again for the use of a ventilator… The CARES act channeled $175bn dollars into the ‘fight’ against coronavirus, including $15 billion purely for treating COVID patients without insurance…. You couldn’t blame a doctor for gaming the system to get a little for his struggling, under-funded clinic… for labelling some unknown respiratory illness ‘Covid 19’  or re-ordering a test known to create false-positives until he gets the result which may pay a nurse’s salary, or re-stock a pharmacy.

“If a few thousand doctors do that a few hundred times each, you’ve created a ‘pandemic’ out of nowhere, with a comparatively small outlay and 99% of those involved believing they’re doing the right thing. The American medical system is broken, of course. Has been for decades…”

Bild Online wrote on June 25:

“New Study: 85 percent of all those infected with coronavirus did not even notice it. Did we overemphasize the virus-danger?… Is the coronavirus not as dangerous as we always assumed?”

Is the Mass Media Lying to Us?

Dr. Ron Paul wrote the following on June 29 in his weekly column in the Ron Paul Institute:

“… from the peak in April, deaths had decreased by 90 percent and were continuing to crash… With massive increases in testing, the ‘case’ numbers climbed. This is not rocket science: the more people you test the more ‘cases’ you discover. Unfortunately our mainstream media is only interested in pushing the ‘party line.’ So the good news that millions more have been exposed while the fatality rate continues to decline – meaning the virus is getting weaker – is buried under hysterical false reporting of ‘new cases.’ Unfortunately many governors… are incapable of resisting the endless lies of the mainstream media. They are putting Americans again through the nightmare of forced business closures, mandated face masks, and restrictions of Constitutional liberties based on false propaganda.

“In Texas the ‘second wave’ propaganda has gotten so bad that the leaders of the four major hospitals in Houston took the extraordinary step late last week of holding a joint press conference to clarify that the scare stories of Houston hospitals being overwhelmed with Covid cases are simply untrue. Dr. Marc Boom of Houston Methodist said the reporting on hospital capacity is misleading. He said, ‘quite frankly, we’re concerned that there is a level of alarm in the community that is unwarranted right now.’

“In fact, there has been much reporting that the ‘spike’ in Texas cases is not due to a resurgence of the virus but to hospital practices of Covid-testing every patient coming in for any procedure at all. If it’s a positive, well that counts as a ‘Covid hospitalization.’ Why would hospitals be so dishonest in their diagnoses? Billions of appropriated Federal dollars are being funneled to facilities based on the number of ‘Covid cases’ they can produce… And that’s why we are getting more Covid cases… Even though we know hospitals have falsely attributed countless deaths to ‘Covid-19’ that were deaths WITH instead of FROM the virus, we are seeing actual deaths steadily declining over the past month and a half…”

Who is right and who is wrong? You decide. But decide you should!

Totalitarianism the New Normal?

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on June 30:

“We cannot go back to the pre-coronavirus world, they tell us. Everything has changed and we must accept a ‘new normal.’ What does this ‘new normal’ look like? It looks a lot like a dystopian horror film, where privacy is destroyed, property is subject to political whim, surveillance is to be accepted, medical treatments can be forced on people. Should we accept totalitarianism as our ‘new normal’?”

Case in point. Note the following statement by California Governor Gavin Newsom, as quoted by CBS SF on June 30:

“The framework for us is this:  if you’re not going to stay home and you’re not going to wear masks in public, we have to enforce and we will… We’ve got Fourth of July weekend coming up. One of the areas of biggest concern… remains family gatherings… Where family members or rather households — immediate and extended family members — begin to mix and take down their guard. They may walk into that barbecue with masks on; then they put the cooler down and the mask comes off, they have a glass of water, and all of a sudden nieces and nephews start congregating.’”

And so, the state-ordered destruction and separation of families is supposed to continue?

Fauci: Need to Fight Strong Resistance to Vaccination

Newsmax wrote on June 29:

“Dr. Anthony Fauci said it’s ‘unlikely’ the United States would reach herd immunity from the coronavirus even if a successful vaccine is developed because of strong resistance to getting inoculated… [He] noted there is a good chance a vaccine for the SARS-CoV-2 virus will be available by the end of this year or early next year.

“He added later, however, that pushback to getting a vaccine —some polls say as many as one-third of Americans would refuse to be vaccinated — could result in a lack of herd immunity. ‘I doubt seriously that any vaccine will ever be 100% protective. The best we’ve ever done is measles, which is 97 to 98% effective. That would be wonderful if we get there, I don’t think we will,’ Fauci said.

“‘I would settle for a 70, 75% effective vaccine because that would bring you to that … herd immunity level… ‘We have a lot of work to do because as you well know … there is a general anti-science, anti-authority, anti-vaccine feeling among some people in this country — an alarmingly large percentage of people, relatively speaking.’”

Vaccines won’t come cheaply. The Wall Street Journal reported on June 29: “Covid-19 Drug Remdesivir to cost $3,120 for [a] typical patient on private insurance. Gilead Sciences, remdesivir’s maker, said its price will depend on who is paying and how long a patient takes the drug.”

Senator Rand Paul (Son of Ron Paul) Rips into Anthony Fauci

The New York Post wrote on June 30:

“Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul on Tuesday ripped into Dr. Anthony Fauci… during a hearing on COVID-19 response…

“‘It is a fatal conceit to believe any one person or small group of people has the knowledge necessary to direct an economy or dictate public health behavior. I think government experts need to show caution in their prognostications,’ Paul, a Republican and libertarian, [said.]

“‘It’s important to realize that if society meekly submits to an expert and that expert is wrong, a great deal of harm may occur when we allow one man’s policy or one group of small men and women to be foisted on an entire nation,’ Paul continued… ‘We shouldn’t presume that a group of experts somehow knows what’s best for everyone. Only decentralized power and decision-making based on millions of individualized situations can arrive at what risk and behaviors each individual will choose. That’s what America was founded on, not a herd with Washington telling us what to do and like sheep we blindly follow…

“‘Dr. Fauci, every day we seem to hear from you things we can’t do…’”

The Daily Beast added on June 30:

“During a tense exchange on Capitol Hill, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on Tuesday blasted the nation’s top public health experts… He went on to call America’s public health community ‘fatally’ arrogant…

“Paul specifically berated Dr. Anthony Fauci… for his recent statements on spectator sports, herd immunity, and other subjects. Though Fauci had couched his words in caveats, he said that ‘it would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall’ and that, even with a working vaccine, herd immunity might be difficult to accomplish if Americans aren’t willing to take it.

“But Paul said such statements have caused ‘undue fear’ in pockets of the country and cautioned the public not to trust the words of top infectious disease professionals in the country, saying: ‘… We just need more optimism.’”

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.

Coming… Massive Disaster Worse than Covid-19?

Market Watch wrote on June 19:

“Analysts [at Deutsche Bank] say there is at least a one-in-three chance that at least one of four major tail risks will occur within the next decade: a major influenza pandemic killing more than two million people; a globally catastrophic volcanic eruption; a major solar flare; or a global war… Earthquakes were omitted from the numbers on the grounds that they are more local events…

“Another point made is that these major events tend to have ripple effects as well, just as the current COVID-19 crisis has led to fraying ties between the U.S. and China.”

Massive disasters are prophesied to occur soon.

US Republican Leadership Support Annexation

Breaking Israel News reported on June 22:

“Republican leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives has been circulating a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in support of Israel expected to annex parts of Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank… The letter, signed by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and House Republican Conference chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), emphasizes support for Israel and its right to make its own decisions…

“The Israeli government plans to enact annexation starting July 1.”

Israel’s Planned Annexation

The Times of Israel wrote on June 19:

“Though Israel’s planned annexation of parts of the West Bank hasn’t happened yet, on the ground its tremors are already being felt. The first victim of the fracas around annexation is the security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, halted last month…

“Fatah’s militant offshoot the Tanzim, the slumbering beast that fueled the Second Intifada in its early days, is starting to wake up and exhibiting a growing presence in the West Bank. Tanzim members have increasingly been seen operating in Qalqilya and Hebron, and they are very present in the area surrounding Jerusalem, with East Jerusalem residents reporting hearing increased gunfire in the area’s villages and refugee camps.

“It was not actually annexation that awakened the beast, but rather the pandemic: Fatah leaders who sent the field operators into villages, often armed, in order to enforce COVID-19 discipline, are now finding it difficult to remove them again. In isolated locations such strongmen can claim more and more autonomy, engage in criminal activities and become a nuisance for both residents and Israeli security forces…

“… There are [allegedly] already 12 or 13 European states that are willing to recognize a Palestinian state under occupation in the event of an Israeli annexation…”

In addition, Breaking Israel News wrote on June 24:

“The E.U. states against Israeli sovereignty are Luxembourg, Belgium, Ireland, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Malta and Finland, while on the pro-Israel side are Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Greece, Latvia, Cyprus and Poland, the report said, citing E.U. diplomats, cables and meeting transcripts.

“France and Spain are siding against Israel but are not being as vocal about it, and Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy are in the middle.”

The list might not be totally accurate. It does not appear correct to say that Germany or France are in the middle. They would be better listed as being against Israel. 

It is indeed to be expected that certain European countries will support the Palestinians against Israel. However, Austria might not be one of them. Note the next article.

Sebastian Kurz’s Strong Support for Israel

JTA wrote on June 19:

“Austria is led by one of the country’s most remarkable politicians in recent decades: Sebastian Kurz, who was elected chancellor in 2017 at just 31 years old. Kurz is immediately striking for a world leader…

“Following a scandal in an allied party last year that collapsed Kurz’s parliament coalition and forced a new election, the People’s Party came back even stronger, winning nine new parliament seats…

“One of the fellow world leaders Kurz feels closest to is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. That could help explain why Kurz has reversed his country’s stance toward Israel during his tenure from very critical to very supportive. Austria is the only Western European nation whose government is actively shielding the Jewish state from sanctions by the European Union over Netanyahu’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank. New sanctions would require complete consensus among its 27 members…

“In March, he was the only world leader to congratulate Netanyahu on what Kurz termed Netanyahu’s ‘clear election victory’ earlier that month… The chancellor’s biggest homage to Netanyahu came during the coronavirus crisis, when Kurz publicly credited the prime minister for advice on how Austria should handle the pandemic.

“In a March interview with the German Bild daily, Kurz… added a note: ‘…Thank God for Bibi Netanyahu…’

“In a 2017 video speech for the American Jewish Committee, Kurz recalled Austria’s incorporation into Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany, calling it the darkest period in our history. ‘But it also guides my political work today,’ he said. This means ‘a zero-tolerance approach’ to anti-Semitism and that ‘we have to be a strong partner of Israel’…

“Kurz was among a handful of European leaders who publicly chided Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for saying in 2018 that Israel’s land should be ‘returned to the owners.’ Austria’s parliament this year passed a resolution calling the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel a form of anti-Semitism. It has also labeled Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

“Those who know Kurz in Austria and Israel told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that his pro-Israel policies offer him few political dividends, but he adheres to them in any case because of his convictions and values….”

This would almost certainly rule out Sebastian Kurz as the prophesied end-time European anti-Israeli leader. In addition, Ahval News reported on June 22: “Kurz said Austria was in favour of ‘close cooperation among EU countries’ but not a European army…”

The prophesied end-time European military leader will of course be an ardent supporter of a strong and powerful European army.

Hezbollah Threatens Israel with Precise Missile Attacks

“The Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group on Saturday released a video threatening to strike major Israeli cities with precision guided missiles and claiming that it has the capability to hit ‘very precise targets’ anywhere in Israel… Hezbollah is believed to have over 150,000 missiles… Israel fears in a future war, the terror group could use a barrage of precision missiles to attack sensitive facilities and overwhelm its air defense array…

“Hezbollah was formed in the early 1980s with assistance from Iran to counter and harass Israel, which occupied southern Lebanon following the 1982 First Lebanon War… Over the years — and with ample Iranian training, funding and support — the terror group turned from a small guerrilla outfit… into a more powerful terrorist organization with thousands of simple rockets that it rained down on northern Israel and advanced anti-tank guided missiles that it fired at IDF positions in southern Lebanon. A full-scale war erupted in 2006.

“Iran-backed Hezbollah… fights alongside the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the neighboring country’s civil war. It is Tehran’s most potent proxy on the regional scene and also wields significant influence in Lebanese politics.”

Hezbollah’s terrorists are a continuing threat to the safety of Israel.

Tel Aviv… modern Sodom?

Times of Israel wrote on June 21:

“The Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality on Sunday said it would allow cohabiting couples to register their relationship and enjoy marital rights, in a protest of the government’s refusal to recognize same-sex couples or those not wed under the state’s religious authorities. Tel Aviv-Jaffa Mayor Ron Huldai said the move, coinciding with the country’s Pride Week, makes those who register eligible for housing tax discounts, as well as easing enrollment of their children in public daycares and schools. ‘In honor of Pride Week, we decided to challenge the government and allow couples to register on the basis of a declaration,’ said the mayor…

“Though same-sex marriage is not technically illegal in Israel, there is no institution authorized to carry it out. In a system inherited from Ottoman times, people can only marry in Israel through their religious institutions: Jewish couples must marry through the Chief Rabbinate, which refuses to carry out same-sex or interfaith marriages; and Christians, Druze and Muslims all marry through their own state-sanctioned and publicly funded religious legal systems…”

Even though interfaith marriages are included, the gist of the move deals with same-sex marriages.

“Curbing Religious Freedom With Ban on Kosher Slaughter”

The Algemeiner wrote on June 22:

“One of Europe’s top rabbis has warned that Jews on the continent may no longer be able to consume kosher meat because of legislation targeting ‘shechita’ — the Jewish method of slaughtering animals for human consumption. ‘Shechita is a vital religious practice within the Jewish faith that forms an inherent part of our religious identity, without which Jews would be deprived of the ability to eat meat,’ Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt — president of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER) — said in a statement on Monday.

“Goldschmidt was speaking ahead of a hearing at the European Court of Justice in July that is expected to rule on the legality of the ban on Jewish and Muslim slaughter methods adopted by Belgium in January 2019. The hearing had originally been scheduled for April 21, but was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Goldschmidt said that the supply chain of kosher meat in Europe was not strong enough to rely solely on imports. ‘In recent months, and particularly over the recent Passover holiday, which of course came at the height of the pandemic in Europe, the supply chain was simply not robust and many communities in Belgium — and indeed throughout Europe — suffered a shortage of meat due to the lack of supplies,’ he stated…

“If the ban was to be upheld, Goldschmidt remarked, the ‘message would be clear: Jews are not welcome.’ He continued: ‘Such a notion is abhorrent and so I implore the judges to look at the evidence in front of them and do not allow the processes to be hijacked by intolerance under the guise of a concern for animal welfare regulations.’”

However, Europe’s left-liberal anti-Jewish judges might very well issue a prohibition of “shechita.”

Unprecedented Civil War-Like Riots in Germany

 Deutsche Welle wrote on June 21:

“Police in Stuttgart have arrested 24 suspects over rioting and looting that erupted in the German city early Sunday morning… Police said hundreds of mainly young people who had gathered there started throwing stones and bottles at authorities, smashing patrol cars and breaking shop windows. They then tore through the main shopping district. Officers estimated that up to 500 people were involved in the unrest, which took several hours to bring under control.

“Police President Frank Lutz said the level of violence against officers was ‘unprecedented’… ‘These are incredible events that have left me stunned, and that I’ve never experienced in all my 46 years of police service,’ he said…

“Winfried Kretschmann, the premier of the state of Baden-Württemberg where Stuttgart is located, condemned ‘this brutal outbreak of violence’… Sascha Binder, a regional politician from the center-left SDP, described the violence as ‘civil war-like scenes.’”

People are getting more and more upset and violent. Terrible times lie ahead.

A European Nuclear Bomb?

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 20:

“Days after US President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of roughly one third of US troops stationed in Germany, the shock still lingers. Politicians at every level are grappling with the consequences… Germany’s foreign minister is worried about the further deterioration of relations with the US… Germany has been a key component of the US defense strategy in Europe for decades, with US nuclear weapons — to be delivered by German fighter jets in a moment of crisis — stationed here…

“‘It is entirely unclear where this journey is heading and what security risks lie ahead,’ said Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, vice president of the Berlin-based German Marshall Fund… He told DW the weakening of ties between Germany and the US is damaging to the whole of Europe… ‘Europe will have to take on more responsibility,’ said Roderich Kiesewetter, a former military officer who is now a parliamentary foreign policy expert for Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party…

“[Is] Germany ready for a paradigm shift — working toward a Europe that can protect itself, without the US? Should that… option be the secret desire of German politicians, it would no doubt bring out every last EU political and military heavyweight between Berlin and Paris. And it would also put the spotlight on an uncomfortable issue for the Germans: their stance on nuclear weapons — which are, after all, considered the last guarantor of independent sovereignty… Still, the issue of whether or not to create a European nuclear umbrella could well arise should Trump complete a US withdrawal from Europe that started long before he came to office…

“The one seemingly intractable conflict inherent in the idea of a ‘European bomb,’ however, is the question of who would decide to use it when a split-second decision is needed. In France, that duty falls to the president, who is closely followed everywhere he goes by an officer carrying the nation’s nuclear codes… Germany will likely have to get used to the French nuclear mindset in the coming years…”

Ten European nations or groups of nations will have a powerful army with nuclear weapons, and it will indeed be the “beast”—a political and military leader—who will have authority to decide as to when to use them.

German Leadership Needed

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 23:

“NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg touted the importance of German leadership, following US President Donald Trump’s controversial move to announce the withdrawal of 9,500 US troops from Germany. ‘The world needs more German leadership,’ Stoltenberg told DW. ‘NATO needs German leadership. We all need Germany to play an even more important role because Germany is the largest economy in Europe.’

“In the interview, Stoltenberg highlighted an increase in Germany’s defense budget as significant. ‘I value Germany as a very strong and important ally. And Germany is now actually investing significantly more in defense… Germany now has the largest defense budget with the European Union, and third in NATO behind the United Kingdom and the United States…’”

And so, Germany WILL lead Europe militarily very soon.

Trump Rally in Tulsa

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 22:

“During his speech Trump appeared to make light of the coronavirus, which has claimed at least 120,000 lives in the US, by referring to it as the ‘kung flu.’ He also said he had instructed people to slow down coronavirus testing because more tests lead to a higher case count. In his remarks Trump singled out Germany, saying it owed the US $1 trillion (€890 billion).

“‘We’re supposed to protect Germany from Russia, but they are paying billions of dollars to Russia for a brand new pipeline,’ he said, referring to the Nord Stream 2 project. He described German Chancellor Angela Merkel as ‘a very nice woman, very good negotiator’ but accused Germany of ‘ripping off’ the US.”

Trump added that this is the reason why he will withdraw American troops from Germany. Germany—and Europe—hotly dispute the notion that Germany owes the US or anybody any money, stating that this is not how the arrangement with NATO works.

Trump’s Former Ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, Gets His Revenge

Der Spiegel wrote on June 15:

“… when the news made the rounds in late May that Donald Trump’s ambassador to Germany, Richard ‘Ric’ Grenell, would be leaving his posting early, the reactions ranged from glee to relief. Former Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) described Grenell’s departure as ‘an act of kindness.’ He joked that Trump must still have a soft spot for the Germans after all. ‘Over generations, every ambassador I have met left Germany as a friend and respected partner,’ writes Andreas Nick, a lawmaker with Angela Merkel’s center-right Christian Democrats (CDU) specializing in foreign policy. Grenell, he says, behaves like ‘the representative of a hostile power.’

“Grenell reacted in his own way to the jubilation. In late May, he tweeted: ‘You make a big mistake if you think the American pressure is off. You don’t know Americans.’ It sounded like a threat. It’s now clear that it was. On Friday of last week, shortly after Grenell left Berlin, it became known in Washington that Trump was planning to drastically reduce the number of U.S. troops in Germany… the decision was made extremely quickly by a circle of three men: the president, his security advisor Richard O’Brien – and Grenell…

“Grenell is seen as the driving force behind the withdrawal plans… According to officials in the German government, the reduction of U.S. troops won’t have grave consequences for Germany’s security. But the symbolic damage to the German-American relationship, which has already been battered under Trump, is severe. Since the end of the Second World War, the presence of U.S. soldiers in Germany has been an important symbol of the closeness between the two countries…

“[Grenell] was a pariah in Berlin’s political circles. Even Merkel steered clear of the diplomat. In summer of 2019, Grenell threatened to withdraw U.S. troops if the German government didn’t accede to American calls to raise the defense budget to 2 percent of gross national product (GNP), as NATO members had pledged to do by 2024… Officials in Berlin were shocked by the tone.

“At the time, Trump was also considering reducing the contingent of U.S. troops… Trump backed away from the plan, apparently partly because the proposal didn’t get a very positive reaction from Republicans in Congress or at the Department of Defense… Trump was annoyed that Merkel ruined his plan to hold a G-7 Summit in Washington…”

It appears that both Trump and Grenell are acting, at least in part, because of revenge. Whatever the motive, the irreparable harm towards the relationship between the USA and Europe continues.

“U.S. Likely to Be Left out of Europe”

The Los Angeles Times wrote on June 24:

“The headline in a leading German newspaper [Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung] put it succinctly: ‘Cuba yes, USA no.’ With the European Union moving toward reopening external borders on July 1, travelers from the United States could be among those excluded… No decision has yet been made. But for the holders of dark-blue American passports and even U.S. green cards, such a restriction would mark a humbling reversal — and to some, a symbol of Washington’s slipping prestige…

“In European countries long counted as among America’s closest allies, the news of the U.S. potentially being left off the travel list is drawing mixed emotions — sympathy and unease, hard-nosed realism and in some quarters a touch of scorn. Many staunch supporters of transatlantic ties genuinely mourn any fresh distancing from a country that is warmly remembered for helping the continent back to its feet after the devastation of World War II…

“Germany’s Der Spiegel newsmagazine said EU internal discussions centered on two key criteria: the level of new infections in a given country, and also reciprocity–if EU citizens are not allowed in, that country’s chances of its own citizens being allowed in are low, it said. In a summer season already blighted by the pandemic, U.S. visitors would be sorely missed…”

Americans Very Stressed over America’s Future

Study Finds wrote on June 19:

“The year 2020 feels like a crossroads for the United States. With a pivotal election just around the corner, protests in the streets, and a deadly virus that refuses to disappear, our nation hasn’t felt this vulnerable and divided in ages…  A staggering 83% say that worrying about the future of the United States is a big source of personal stress. Also, 72% believe this is the lowest point in the country’s history that they’ve ever been alive to see.

“…66% of respondents say that the government’s ongoing response to the coronavirus continues to stress them out on a daily basis. Among that group, 84% are mostly worried about the federal government’s response. More than… 72% are concerned about their state leaders. Another 64% feel unstrung over their local government…”

It won’t get better.

The Uncertain Future of DACA

Newsmax wrote on June 19:

“President Donald Trump, claiming nothing was lost or won by the Supreme Court’s ruling on his efforts to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, says he will submit ‘enhanced papers’ to try again. The high court on Thursday ruled that Trump improperly ended DACA in 2017. Chief Justice John Roberts joined the four liberal justices in the 5-4 majority, while the conservative justices called DACA illegal… On Thursday [Trump] ripped the high court for ‘horrible and politically charged decisions.’…

“Trump could still take away the ability for hundreds of thousands of them to live and work legally in the United States. With no legislative answer in sight, that means the uncertainty of the last eight years isn’t over for many who know of nowhere else as home. Activists… face a White House that’s prioritized immigration restrictions and a divided Congress that’s unlikely to pass legislation giving them a path to citizenship anytime soon…

“While Republicans protested that now, if ever, was the time for Congress to clarify the immigration system, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made it clear that Democrats were done with their legislation before the summer break…”

It is terrible when political maneuvering decides the fate of thousands of innocent people.

New Visa Restrictions Coming

Reuters wrote on June 20:

“President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would announce new restrictions on visas… to block the entry of certain foreign workers and protect Americans struggling with a job market devastated by the coronavirus pandemic…

“Critics have said Trump looked set to use the pandemic to achieve his longstanding goal of limiting immigration into the United States. His tough stance on immigration is central to his pitch to voters as he runs for re-election. Major American companies, particularly in the tech sector, have urged Trump to refrain from blocking the flow of foreign workers into the United States, saying it would hurt the economy…

“In April, he ordered a temporary block on some foreigners from permanent residence in the United States. He also… virtually cut off access to the U.S. asylum system. At the same time, he announced the land borders with Canada and Mexico would be closed to non-essential crossings, a measure that has been extended several times.”

To be clear, we do not support open borders. The USA, or any country for that matter, cannot just let in hard-core criminals or those who want to destroy the country. Some inquiries and measures of protection are certainly necessary. But arbitrary restrictions are to be rejected, such as prohibitions of chain migration (legal residents and US citizens would be unable to bring their parents into the country, or vice versa) or preventing legal residents from obtaining a green card or truly persecuted aliens from being granted asylum;  nor would deportations of those innocent aliens be justified who entered the USA under DACA.

As it turned out, Trump’s visa restrictions this time were relatively mild. Subsequently, Trump, by executive order, extended the 60-day ban on certain foreign work visas. Tech executives did not like this decision.

IBT wrote on June 23:

“The new restrictions will come into effect on June 24, and are expected to block 219,000 temporary workers from entering the U.S…. Companies like Amazon, Twitter, Facebook, Tesla, Microsoft and industry bodies, such as the Internet Association (IA), Information Technology Industry Council and Information Technology Industry Council, have also strongly opposed the move…

“‘IA condemns the administration’s latest executive order that will limit the number of high-skilled foreign workers from entering the country through the end of the year. The diverse and accomplished H-1B visa holders in the U.S. create American jobs and help our economy grow. All industries benefit from a visa system that allows U.S. companies to attract the best and brightest…’”

Fauci Attacks “Anti-Science Beliefs” and “Anti-Vaccination Movement”

The Huffington Post wrote on June 19:

“Dr. Anthony Fauci… said Thursday he was troubled by the rise in ‘anti-science’ beliefs throughout the country, saying such ill-founded sentiments could be ‘a problem’ as the nation seeks to move past the coronavirus pandemic… ‘That’s unfortunate because, you know, science is truth,’ he added…

“Fauci touted efforts across the United States to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus… But he also warned that the anti-vaccination movement could undermine such efforts… ‘It’s the same thing that gets people who are anti-vaxxers, who don’t want people to get vaccinated, even though the data clearly indicate the safety of vaccines. That’s really a problem.’”

The problem is that, in spite of Fauci’s claims, even vaccines in general are not as safe as some “scientists” want us to believe. But that would be especially true in the case of a rushed-through vaccine against the coronavirus.

Vaccinating Children to Help the Adults?

The Guardian wrote on June 23:

“Lords committee told children may have to be immunised to protect their grandparents.

“A vaccine against Covid-19 may not work well in older people who are most at risk of becoming seriously ill and dying from the disease, say scientists, which may mean immunising others around them, such as children…

“Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at Oxford University, who is heading its Covid-19 vaccine research, told the Lords committee that none of the 140 vaccines in development was likely to be perfect, but said a useful vaccine did not have to be 100% effective…

“As the numbers of people infected with coronavirus fall in England and the rest of the UK, it becomes more difficult to trial vaccines there, so she and colleagues have embarked on a trial in Brazil, where the numbers are high, and are about to start in South Africa as well. Astra Zeneca, to whom the vaccine is licensed, is setting up a trial of 30,000 people in the US, she said.”

Masks Mandated

Breitbart wrote on June 18:

“California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Thursday signed an order making wearing face coverings mandatory while in public or high-risk settings… Californians will be required to wear a mask while in line or inside public spaces, at the workplace, and when waiting for or while riding public transportation… People engaged in hiking, running or bicycling do not need to wear a mask. Children under two-years-old and individuals with medical conditions are also exempt from the order. ‘Science shows that face coverings and masks work,’ Newsom said in a statement.”

According to many scientists, science does NOT show that face coverings and masks work. Newsom’s new order also prohibits having parties at home, involving people outside one’s household, including pool or cocktail parties, but it was reported that police won’t (be able to) enforce those “guidelines.”

Reuters wrote on June 19:

“Resistance to face masks took on a partisan edge after President Donald Trump opposed them, telling the Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Thursday that some people wear them to show opposition to him. But… masks are becoming commonplace in the United States….”

USA Today wrote on June 19:

“[Arnold] Schwarzenegger said [Newsom’s] decision is ‘100% the right move. This will help us beat this terrible virus,’ tweeted Schwarzenegger, the state’s governor from 2003 to 2011. ‘The science is unanimous… It’s not a political issue. Anyone making it a political issue is an absolute moron who can’t read.’

“Newsom’s new requirement waded into the growing national divide over face masks, which are often cast as either a common courtesy to stem the spread of coronavirus or an infringement on personal freedom. It has led to tense confrontations, particularly in Southern California. Mask matters have been rendered political after President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, who have been pushing for a fast restart of the U.S. economy, refused to wear masks in a number of public settings.”

The truth is, science is NOT unanimous on the issue at all. Our advice to Mr. Schwarzenegger: Since you are no longer state governor, stick to your movies and stop libeling people by calling them illiterate morons who may disagree with your hotly debated viewpoint. Note the next section.

Breitbart explained on June 19:

“But far from being ‘unanimous,’ public health officials have issued confusing and sometimes contradictory statements about the efficacy of masks to prevent the spread of the Chinese coronavirus.  Near the beginning of the global outbreak, U.S. experts discouraged people from wearing masks. But now, many are urging the opposite.

“As a result, masks have become a political football…”

npr added on June 19:

“… [Newsom’s order] is likely to be met with resistance, pitting the governor against local government leaders who have dropped mandatory mask-wearing measures. In many such counties and cities, residents and business owners eager to return to pre-pandemic life have challenged the need for the widespread use of face coverings…”

Nevada City Mayor Suggests Citizens Ignore California Mask Order

SF Gate wrote on June 21:

“The mayor of Nevada City suggested citizens do not need to follow California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide mask mandate in a Facebook post Saturday. ‘As you go about your day today, KNOW there is NO LAW that Orders you to Wear a Mask. Our Governor does NOT have that unilateral power to make such orders…’ [she wrote].

“‘Again, THERE IS NO LAW THAT STATES YOU MUST WEAR A MASK. Ask our local Police chief or officers. They will not, and cannot, cite ANYBODY for not wearing a mask because the law does not exist. When you come across Newsom’s orders’ online, you will see it’s linked to a page that does not lead you to his Executive Order, BUT to the California Department of Public Health GUIDELINES! Again, NOBODY can be forced to wear a mask outside, in a business, or as an employee or customer.’”

A country or a state divided cannot and will not stand and survive…

When Face Masks Could be Hazardous to your Health

The British paper, “The Conversation,” wrote on June 15:

“… a mask makes it harder to inhale the quantity of air needed to perform at the highest levels… Exercise invariably leads to faster and harder breaths, so wearing a mask during exercise places a further strain on airflow…

“When we do heavy exercise (“fencing” was given as an example), our muscles produce lactic acid, which causes that burning sensation. It is then converted to carbon dioxide and exhaled. But what happens if the carbon dioxide is trapped by the mask? As you move from moderate to heavy exercise, you may be re-breathing carbon dioxide, which can reduce cognitive function and increase breathing rate. There may also be less oxygen in the recycled air… So it is important we gain a better understanding of the limitations of heavy exercise with a face mask.

“The need for this understanding is growing, given the story… of two teenage boys in China dying within a week of each other during compulsory physical education examinations while wearing face masks. With gyms looking to reopen and sports clubs wanting to resume, before anyone recommends wearing a face mask, research urgently needs to be undertaken to ensure the safety of the sporting community, regardless of any underlying conditions.”

Wise counsel. Before mandating wearing face masks to combat coronavirus, other health concerns stemming from wearing masks must not be ignored.

Blacks Exempt in Oregon

Fox News reported on June 24:

“Amid ‘heightened concerns about racial profiling and harassment,’ a county in Oregon is allowing its residents of color to be in public without coronavirus face coverings… ‘No person shall intimidate or harass people who do not comply,’ health officials said.

“‘For many black people, deciding whether or not to wear a bandanna in public to protect themselves and others from contracting coronavirus is a lose-lose situation that can result in life-threatening consequences either way,’ ReNika Moore, director of the ACLU’s Racial Justice Program, said.”

This is the epitome of hypocrisy.

Eliminating the Aunt Jemima Brand of Pancake Mix and Syrup?

Breitbart reported on June 18:

“A great-grandson of ‘Aunt Jemima’ says that his family legacy will be ‘erased’ now that Quaker Foods plans to eliminate the Aunt Jemima brand of pancake mix and syrup. ‘This is an injustice for me and my family. This is part of my history, sir,’ said Larnell Evans Sr. to Patch.com. ‘The racism they talk about, using images from slavery, that comes from the other side — white people.’

“The great-grandson went on to say that ‘it hurts’ to know that Quaker Foods’ answer to current events in America is to ‘erase my great-grandmother’s history.’ Evans, a 66-year-old Marine Corps veteran, is the great-grandson of Anna Short Harrington, who portrayed Aunt Jemima after the death of Nancy Green — the first Aunt Jemima who made her debut at Chicago’s World’s Fair in 1893.

“Harrington was born on a South Carolina plantation where her family worked as sharecroppers and was later discovered in 1935 by a Quaker Oats representative at the New York State Fair while serving pancakes, reports Patch.com. The report added that Harrington later became a national celebrity as her likeness was seen on products and ads while she traveled the country serving pancakes dressed as Aunt Jemima. ‘She worked for that Quaker Oats for 20 years,’ said Evans. ‘She traveled all the way around the United States and Canada making pancakes as Aunt Jemima for them. This woman served all those people, and it was after slavery.’ ‘She worked as Aunt Jemima. That was her job,’ he added. ‘How do you think I feel as a black man sitting here telling you about my family history they’re trying to erase?’

“On Wednesday, Quaker Foods announced that it will be eliminating Aunt Jemima in order ‘to make progress toward racial equality.’ The Aunt Jemima brand has been around for the last 130 years.”

This decision is ridiculous and shows what happens when a false spirit of supposedly “fighting racism” overtakes the world. Note the next articles with more counter-productive nonsense.

Prohibiting “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”?

 The Daily Mail wrote on June 18:

“The RFU [Rugby Football Union] are conducting a review into how rugby can end institutional racism. ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’ [was] written by a black slave in the American South during the nineteenth century, the song was first belted out by supporters when two black wingers – Martin Offiah and Chris Oti – became sporting heroes on the pitch at the end of the 1980s.”

Are these people for real?

Freedom of Speech in America?

Newsmax wrote on June 17:

“A Catholic chaplain at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has stepped down after sending an email that read George Floyd ‘had not lived a virtuous life’… Daniel Patrick Moloney sent the note out on June 7 to the Catholic community at MIT. ‘George Floyd was killed by a police officer, and shouldn’t have been. He had not lived a virtuous life. He was convicted of several crimes, including armed robbery, which he seems to have committed to feed his drug habit. And he was high on drugs at the time of his arrest. But we do not kill such people,’ Moloney said.

“The email continued, ‘In the wake of George Floyd’s death, most people in the country have framed this as an act of racism. I don’t think we know that. Many people have claimed that racism is a major problem in police forces. I don’t think we know that.’

“Moloney continued in his email by saying police officers ‘deal with dangerous people and bad people all the time, and that often hardens them.’ Suzy Nelson, MIT’s vice president and dean for student life, called Moloney’s email ‘deeply disturbing’ in a message to students on Friday. ‘By devaluing and disparaging George Floyd’s character, Father Moloney’s message failed to acknowledge the dignity of each human being and the devastating impact of systemic racism,’ Nelson wrote.

“The Boston Archdiocese asked Moloney to step down. ‘While Fr. Moloney’s comments should not reflect on the entirety of his priestly ministry, they nonetheless were wrong and by his resignation he accepts the hurt they have caused,’ archdiocese officials said…”

The hype following George Floyd’s unjustifiable murder has reached unjustifiable extremes.  During the televised memorial service for him, a huge blasphemous painting was shown throughout the ceremony, portraying him as an angel with wings and with a halo or a gloriole.

Mount Rushmore Won’t Escape

Breitbart wrote on June 23:

“There is no way Mount Rushmore can survive… We have crossed the Rubicon and there is no going back… Before the… [r]iots, as a country, on the right and left, we all agreed there was one line that could never be crossed; that we could never, ever, ever condone or encourage violence of any kind…

“Gandhi and… Martin Luther King understood… [c]ivilization could be made to see the light through peaceful resistance and civil disobedience… On the left today, most especially in the media, that culture King and Gandhi knew it could appeal to, is dead… violence is acceptable now…

“The modern left’s goals, the modern media’s goals, the goals of… Antifa and Black Lives Matter are immoral, are the authoritarian goals of tyrants who want to tell us how to think and what to believe, what we can and cannot say… They want total control of our children by way of a failed school system, they want total control of that which shapes our culture by way of an entertainment institution that blacklists those who think different, they want total control of political speech…

“We now live in a world where a very public Black Lives Matter organizer, Shaun King, can openly call for the destruction of Christian churches while Twitter allows the call for mob violence to remain published [while they place a warning message on Trump’s tweets for “threat of harm” or “abusive behavior” against DC protestors. Trump had tweeted: “There will never be an ‘Autonomous Zone’ in Washington, D.C., as long as I’m your President. If they try they will be met with serious force!”] and the media protect King and Black Lives Matter by ignoring it.

“We now live in a world where Democrat politicians are doing nothing to stop the violence in their own cities, where the police are obviously being told to stand down as lawless mobs gleefully stream the statues they topple and monuments they desecrate, where a big city mayor sides with [those] who occupied six city blocks filled with hundreds of businesses and private residences. We now live in a world where violence against President Trump and his supporters is openly encouraged by the media….

“In this environment Mount Rushmore cannot survive. All four men carved into the Black Hills of South Dakota hills have been labeled ‘problematic’ by the left and media, this includes Abraham Lincoln. Already the location of Mount Rushmore is considered ‘problematic’ because it was once land that belonged to the American Indian…

“The… Riots are here to stay. The media and the Democrats who run America’s major cities see Antifa and Black Lives Matter as… their way to political power…”

We omitted the most “controversial” verbiage in the article.

In addition, to exemplify the ridiculous ignorance of certain protestors, statues of former President Ulysses S. Grant and lyricist Francis Scott Key were among those toppled Friday night in Golden Gate Park. Key wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and Grant led the Union army to victory against the Confederacy as a general and fought for African American voting rights as president. Both men were slave owners.

The Troublesome Black Lives Matter Movement in the UK

Esther Krauke wrote the following in the Sunday Mail on June 21:

“When I first moved to the UK from Ghana with my family in my early teens, the country that welcomed me was one where multiculturalism flourished and neighbours were warm and unassuming. Your achievements were not prefaced by the colour of your skin… It was a Britain where confidence trumped victimhood.

“But, much to my dismay, the tone has shifted entirely, and worryingly, over the past five years… I have grown increasingly concerned about the methods and the wider far-Left political agenda of the Black Lives Matter movement here in the UK. I have been horrified to watch this ridiculous campaign of tearing down statues and relics of British heritage escalate. It is a campaign that has yet to make any progress in tangibly helping me as a black person. And in recent weeks I have been increasingly vocal on Twitter about my concerns. But in doing so I have become targeted by a wave of vile online abuse… Most of this abuse was seemingly coming from black supporters of Black Lives Matter, including a significant amount from African-Americans, although I have also been abused by white liberals…

“What I have received this last week online has given me a glimpse into the darkest part of the human soul – the part that can muster up the most awful hatred… The slogan of this campaign is indisputable. Of course black lives matter. They matter in the same way that everyone’s life, by virtue of being human, matters. Every individual, of whatever skin colour, should have the right to pursue happiness and live free from prejudice. And where racial discrimination and injustice exists in this country, it should be stamped out.

“But a simple glance at the ‘Who We Are’ section on its online fundraising page demonstrates that this organisation is about much more than ‘black lives’. The group’s GoFundMe page explains that it intends to be ‘guided by a commitment to dismantle imperialism, capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy and the state structures that disproportionately harm black people in Britain and around the world’. What on earth does ‘defending black lives’ have to do with dismantling capitalism – a system that has lifted millions of people out of absolute poverty in just this century alone? How would the tearing down of wealth creation benefit black lives?…

“There are also growing questions surrounding this organisation’s funding. BLM UK has raised over a million pounds in recent weeks… The group… appears determined to spend the money on a string of Marxist initiatives, which according to its GoFundMe page, includes ‘developing and delivering training, police monitoring and strategies for the abolition of police’… If we abolish the police, what do we replace it with?…

“We need to wake up and see that people are trying to divide this country and are using minority groups to do it. First it was statues, then it was a potential ban on Swing Low, Sweet Chariot being sung at rugby matches. When will this end? This small faction of Left-wing activists will never stop trying to tear this country apart and shaming every aspect of British heritage… My parents taught me the value of hard work, honesty, humility and standing up for the truth. I was taught to judge individuals on the content of their character, and I will never surrender to race baiters who try to bully me into submission…”

Very wise and true words indeed. The situation in the USA does not seem to be any different… perhaps even worse.

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.